The River
by Kaika-sama
Summary: Alternate outcome of S3 episode 'Choices'. Before the pain, plans were made without the knowledge of our heroes. In mere seconds a play is made and the tables are turned. But they couldn't know what dire consequences such an action created.
1. The exchange

**Disclaimer**: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox Studios and Joss Whedon respectively. Their use in this fan fiction is purely for pleasure and pays no profits.

**A/N:** An idea I had about an alternate take on the S3 episode 'Choices. Already posted it in another site and thought I'd be good to post it here too. Shippings are the canon ones but will deviate to Fuffy. I'll leave you to read on and tell me what you think about it.

**--------Chp 1: The exchange--------**

Everybody was anxious and tensed.

Xander and Oz were making sure all the cafeteria exits where properly closed and blocked. Well all exits except for the front door. They wanted to have as much control over the situation as possible so that hopefully there weren't any casualties. Buffy could see Giles by the window on the lookout for the coming of their much undesired company. Sensing her stare, he sent her a small comforting smile, his relaxed features disguising the worry he felt for their mutual friend. She knew he was just trying to appease her nerves. Angel tried to do so as well moments before but by the current jumpiness of her feet it seemed that all their calming gestures were not touching her body….in a totally metaphory way of course. But their efforts mattered to her, which was something she couldn't say about her new Watcher.

Standing stiff as a board in the corner, Wesley was not making any attempt of disguising his clear disagreement of the trade. Every once in a while he'd looked unsure and deep in thought but then one of them would make a comment and he'd go back to stonily glaring them down as if his stare could make them see 'reason'. Fat chance. She still couldn't believe he'd sacrifice Willow's life so easily.

_Next training session is gonna cost him some nice bruises_.

"The whole place is locked down, except for the front." Oz's voice brought Buffy's attention out of her violent daydreams.

"Yeah, it gives me that comforting trapped feeling." commented Xander without his usual enthusiasm. Buffy glanced his way for a second before settling her eyes towards the front double doors.

"One way out means one way in. I want to see them coming." She said with growing confidence to not only reassure her friends but herself as well.

And that's when the lights went out and everybody's limbs stiffened.

"Guess they're shy"

Xander's joke in no way lessened the sudden doubts that were surging in each of the Scooby's minds. Buffy's confidence on having control over the trade was beginning to diminish but she had the comfort of knowing Angel's eyes could capture any signs of foul play in the unexpected darkness.

And then the front doors opened abruptly and 4 figures marched in. The Mayor walked in the front of the group with a calm countenance and his typical election smile which tended to raise Buffy's hackles. He was followed closely by Faith and her redheaded hostage, and behind them the two bodyguards Buffy and Angel fought earlier in the night.

Four against six, seven counting Willow. The odds were not bad. Buffy could have done without the Mayor's taunting and his 'wise' relationship advice. She didn't think they needed to talk about that and right now just wanted to put the trade in motion and get Willow back safely.

Oz couldn't stop looking at Willow's pained face and the way Faith's knife was nicking the witch's throat. The smug grin on the Slayer's face revealed the pleasure she was getting out of Willow's small yips and Oz's unusually expressive face. The Slayer then made eye contact with her counterpart and after noticing her attention, she stuck out her tongue and licked her redheaded hostage's cheek. This action incited quick hostile feelings from both Buffy and Oz, and a scared whimper out of Willow. The blonde Slayer knew Faith was enjoying their reactions and her attempts were just a way to provoke Buffy.

Her fist hung helplessly at her side since she couldn't do anything that could compromise the exchange. She needed to stay calm and so decided to ignore the brunette and concentrate on the Mayor's dating speech. Buffy thought the Big Bad was going to take all night talking crap and was rather alleviated when he stopped counseling her and got down to business.

"Make the trade"

_Finally!_

But as Angel was moving with the Box of Gavrok something unpredictable happened. Wesley came out of his corner to stand before the vampire and block his path.

"Wait! Wait! H-hold on a moment" Wesley shouted while trying his best to look collected though the way his hands nervously fidgeted with his tie betrayed his lack of confidence. He took a deep breath, straightened and looked at them with his most pompous expression before settling his eyes over the Mayor's. "I have an objection"

His remark was quickly followed by annoyed groans from the Scoobies and a raised eyebrow from the Mayor and Faith.

"Wesley shut up you pillock and get back in your corner."

"No Mr. Giles, as a member of the Watcher's Council I demand to be hea-"

Angel decided to swerve by him but Wesley's hands shot out and grabbed the box, preventing the dark vampire from moving further without starting a tug war. Sensing a future struggle, the Mayor's vampire bodyguards took a few steps forward while Faith's tightened grip made Willow give another small scream. Oz made to move forwards as well but Faith's threatening eyes and twitching knife made him pause and control the protective impulses running through his body.

"Let go" growled the souled vampire towards the interfering Watcher.

"Wesley, we already discussed this. Willow comes first! Now step the hell out before I make you."

Buffy's angry words and constricted fists made Wesley glance at the Slayer in momentary fear but he still made sure to maintain his grip on the box of Gavrok.

"No, w-wait! Just listen! I know Willow's safety is crucial. I-I just need you to listen. Just stop..for a moment" he swallowed and directed his pleads toward the entire Scooby gang. "Please, trust me. It's important."

Angel looked for signs of approval in Buffy's frowning face who was evaluating Wesley's claim.

"This better be good." she muttered before nodding and allowing Wesley to explain himself. The Watcher smiled with relief and faced their two biggest enemies. His eyes bounced anxiously from the Mayor to Faith to the Mayor again.

"I ..erm I h-have a-uh" he managed to weakly stutter out before composing himself and speaking in a louder and clearer voice. "I have two buttons in my pocket….one of them is silver."

An ensuing silence followed his declaration where all parties just looked at Wesley in various states of confusion and bewilderment. Some where expecting the now sweating Watcher to carry on with something else but when it was obvious that was all he desired to say some coughs and a snort broke the awkward hush.

"Well _that_ was enlightening" Xander's light hearted voice yet again broke the quiet. "You never know, Wesley's important button stash could save me some possible embarrassment at Prom."

Any further remarks were silenced by the Mayor's chuckles. "Well I expected a small amount of professionalism out of you people but it seems Slayer, that you are not taking this exchange seriously. I might just need to show your witch friend—" and the Mayor was making a gesture towards Faith before Buffy stopped him with a desperate shout.

"No! Wait, I'm serious! WE'RE serious! We do want to trade. Just ignore Wesley. He's brain-dead."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Then I suggest you bring me my box before I lose my patience."

And with a glare towards Wesley and a strong tug, Angel wrenched off the protesting Watcher's hands of the so desired box.

"B-but wait…the box-you can't…"

Angel was about to demonstrate that he could until sudden laughter made their heads swivel towards the dark slayer who was smiling in disbelief.

"Oh oh! Can you believe this guy? Hey…Chief, it looks to me as if Princess Margaret wants to keep that box AND the redhead."

Wesley's hesitant nod and weak smile only made the dark slayer laugh harder and although the Mayor broke into a bemused smile at the preposterous idea, Buffy could see sentiments of annoyance at the Watcher's daring.

"Now Faithy some people just don't understand the principles of trade."

Meanwhile, Willow was starting to feel distress over her precarious situation since every laugh out of Faith's mouth was shaking the Slayer's body. And her hands. And the knife in one of her hands. Thus she felt considerable relief when the crazy Slayer's laughter subsided with a sigh, but the next words out of the Slayer's mouth stunned not only her but the rest of the people reunited inside the cafeteria.

"Yeah, yeah…but I think that's a great idea. Catch Wolfy!" and all of a sudden Willow was sailing into the air with a scream. By the time she crash-landed in Oz's surprised hands Faith was already in motion and with a quick arm swipe she buried her knife into the Mayor's chest. It was a move so out of the blue, no one was expecting it. Especially Richard Wilkins III.

"That was easy. Sorry dude, no hard feelings yeah, just the job." The attacking Slayer winked at the surprised face of Sunnydale's Mayor before turning her head and directing a triumphant smile towards Wesley. Her gaze then connected with quite a few of the Scoobies's paralyzed features, taking particular pleasure on Angel's uncharacteristically clueless face, before she turned to confront the other two threats she felt on the back of the room.

"Faithy…what are you doing?"

And Faith's turning movements stopped to look in shock at the Mayor who was calmly taking the buried knife out of his chest without spilling a drop of blood.

"W-what the-" Her incredulous eyes followed the descend of the bloodless knife as it clattered on the floor and then turned towards Wesley "He's invulnerable?"

"Yes, well to all physical trauma…that we know of."

Buffy and the others were further amazed to find the Watcher actually answering, their heads turning from one side of the room to the other as if they were watching a tennis match…played by smiling demons in tweed.

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"Well I didn't know!...at the moment."

"Am I missing something here?" But though Xander's question was certainly echoed in everyone's mind it went unanswered as at that moment a shout of "Filthy traitor!" was heard and one of the vampire bodyguards barreled Faith to the floor and started aggressively wrestling with the Slayer. The other vampire had his radio out and was already calling for help before he advanced towards the rolling pair in the floor. It was at that moment that Buffy decided to leave the answering of REALLY important questions for another time. She leapt over a chair and tackled away the vampire before he could intervene and was soon violently trading fists and kicks with him.

In the meantime Angel was thinking whether to move and help Buffy or remain guarding the box, but the decision was taken out of his hands…literally. Wesley had taken advantage of the impromptu fights' distraction and used his body to hug the box of Gavrok and steal it away from the souled vampire. Angel made an attempt to take it back before the Watcher stopped him with an explanation.

"It needs to be destroyed!"

"Well we can't do that without the Breath of the Atropyx!" intervened Giles angrily.

"So we're back to destroying the box now. Oz already wasted the spell batch we made. Any chance some good ol' swinging might help?" added Xander with a simulated swing if his bat.

"Not bloody likely" dead-panned Giles.

"We still have some ingredients left to make another Breath of the Atropyx. We just have to take the box back to the library." explained Wesley while trying to move towards one of the doors at his side.

"See, this is what I meant about the comforting trapped feeling. We locked ourselves in! How do you plan on getting to the-oh oh"

Wesley turned to where Xander's paling face was looking and was suddenly lifted by the lapels of his suit. His attacker stared at him with such intensity that in his fright Wesley dropped the box.

"What did you do to her?" an unusually angered Richard Wilkins demanded out of the shaking Watcher.

"W-what, I didn't-" he managed to stutter out before he was dragged away from the others.

"Don't lie! You said something. A spell. You-" but the Mayor wasn't allowed to continue as at that moment a bat with a protruding nail collided with his back and weakened his grip. Wesley took the chance to dislodge himself and scrambled away from the threat of the Big Bad.

"What is going on here?"

And everybody in the room stopped their actions to look towards the opened front doors where Principal Snyder and two Sunnydale Officers stood. The troll like man looked from one face to another, his eyes passing over Oz and Willow breaking chairs in a corner, Xander with his bat frozen in mid-swing, Faith standing over her vamp with a broken chair leg in her hands and finally settled over Buffy who was currently holding her opponent in a full nelson.

"Summers and her gang! I should have known you were up to something."

"Snyder get out of here!"

"You don't give the orders here young lady. Starting brawls and destroying school property. Those are grounds for an arrest which I fully intend to see to." And with a gesture the police officers took out their handcuffs.

"Snyder for your own good, leave."

The officers that where making their way to arrest Buffy stopped the moment a sliver of moonlight revealed the vamped disfigured face of her victim.

"Sweet lord! Are they on drugs too?" exclaimed one of them but they didn't have more time to ponder the suggestion because abruptly the windows of the cafeteria imploded and in mere moments more disfigured people started climbing in through them. Buffy noted that six vampires had joined the fight. The odds were now ten to seven, which was not so good after all. Then she noticed Faith dusting her vampire. Nine to seven. But then again it looked like Faith was fighting for them now so that made it a nice and manageable eight vs. seven.

Buffy twisted her opponents' neck and after hearing it break she dropped off his immobilized body. She was already grabbing a discarded chair leg to finish the job and take care of two advancing vampires.

"Get back!" she shouted to the officers who actually listened to her and ran out of the room.

"Get the box!" ordered the Mayor and a group of three vampires turned towards Wesley who was at the moment trying to make his way out of the room. Faith saw his plight and was running to his side until she got tackled by another vampire.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted a Slayer. All your good for is holding blood!"

Quick as a rabbit, the vampire managed to land two punches in her face and one in her gut before grabbing a hold of Faith and launching her on top of a group of chairs. As the Slayer slammed on the chairs and was buried in between them her attacker noticed the knife lying on the floor.

"This is going to be sweet"

He picked up the knife and was making his way towards a disoriented Faith. The Slayer's back was facing him and he was already raising the knife before a hand wrapped around his forearm. He swung towards the interferer and paused his attack when he found his disheveled boss looking at him in disapprove.

"Don't kill her."

Yet the vampire didn't get the choice to question why before a stake was stuck in his heart and he was dust. Mayor Wilkins swerved towards his Slayer but was greeted by a fist in the face followed by a kick in the stomach than sent him flying to the other side of the room.

"Thanks for the save, but your not my type." and then the Slayer looked in the vicinity where she previously saw her Watcher to find him and Giles fending off a vampire. Wesley was doing his best to not lose the box and with his hands occupied that only left the older Watcher in a position to defend them against the attacking vampire. Faith then noticed another vampire preparing for a sneak attack and she shouted out a warning. It gave Wesley enough time to jump back and away from his grappling hands but he almost dropped the box.

"Faith!" he called out and after capturing the Slayer's attention he threw the box in the air. With Slayer reflexes Faith managed to catch it securely before looking with alarm at Wesley.

"What are you doing?"

"Run Faith! Take the box! You mustn't let them have it!"

"And leave you here to get sucked on?"

"The box is more important! Run now! It's an order."

Faith hesitated for a moment before she saw the other vampires had their attention on her and were turning to go after her.

"Argh this box had better be worth this shit." And with a quick pivot of her feet she was blasting out of the front doors followed closely by two vampires. The third vampire was stopped from pursuing after being slammed in the face with a bat and then pushed by Oz into a floating stake.

"We're bad" grinned Willow after high fiving her boyfriend.

"Hey a little appreciation over here" grouched out a pouting Xander.

"What the hell is Wesley doing?" questioned Buffy before tripping one of her vampires and finally dusting him.

"I pretty much stopped trying to understand after the buttons" answered Angel twisting back his vampire's arms and holding him ready for Buffy's stake. One quick hit and the vampire lackey was dust flying onto their faces.

"Ackk bugh teaches me to not slay and chat. Are there anymore?"

"No, the last two went out with Faith."

Buffy was thinking of giving chase as well when she noticed the Mayor standing up and dusting his suit. The Big Bad watched his now numerous opponents, recognizing the odds were against him this time. He stared at Buffy in defiance and for a moment she though he was actually going to start something which probably wouldn't be good for her since she was tired and was not in the mood to take on someone who couldn't be harmed. But instead, the Mayor turned his icy stare on the panting Wesley.

"This isn't over." His menacing tone made the Watcher eep in terror. Satisfied with his threat, Mayor Wilkins walked out of the cafeteria looking as serene as when he first entered it.

At that time out of a corner near the doors a shaking figure emerged out of a crouch.

"…Was that…Mayor Wilkins?"

"Yep" answered the blonde Slayer.

Snyder looked at Buffy like she had just grown a second pair of arms while opening and closing his mouth in disbelief.

"Y-you couldn't you just be dealing drugs like normal people?" and without expecting an answer he wobbled out of the cafeteria, making sure to check the hallway for any remaining…freaks.

"Well that went swimmingly."

Wesley felt then at the group of hostile glares demanding explanations.

"Tea in the library I suppose?" he offered with a nervous laugh.

**--------To be continued--------**

**A/N:** Anyone guessed what happened?


	2. The sleeper

**Disclaimer**: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox Studios and Joss Whedon respectively. Their use in this fan fiction is purely for pleasure and pays no profits.

**Caellach Tiger Eye:** Don't worry I'm well aware that Faith knew about the Mayor's invulnerably and that she was truly loyal to him. I'm playing on it in fact as you'll see. This chapter will explain away all the inconsistency and I hope it gets you interested in where the story is going.

**--------Chp 2: The sleeper--------**

"What the hell just happened?"

The Scobbies were holding an emergency meeting in the library. Oz, Willow and Xander were huddled around a new pedestal creating the second batch of the Breath of the Atropyx while Buffy was standing over Wesley and demanding answers. Though the Slayer was small she did look rather menacing to him from his position, but then again he was sitting down having tea to tone down the adrenaline that had coursed through his body moments ago.

"Yes inquiring and very disturbed minds want to know why Wesley is suddenly buddy-buddy with our resident crazy Slayer." Xander questioned while helping Oz add clumps of essence of toad into the pedestal.

"They also want to know why they're preparing destructive spells for an evil box that's not even in our possession because you know ingredients don't come cheap now-a-days and these cost me some good lunch money."

"You won't have to worry Willow, I'm sure the Council could generously arrange a reimbursement for your troubles." Wesley didn't notice the redhead and a few of the Scoobs raising their eyebrows in clear unbelief. "Also, the box will come to our possession soon."

"And how are you so sure of that, given that you gave it to _Faith_? You still haven't explained—" To Wesley's relief, Xander was interrupted in his tirade by Buffy who held a hand to silence her friend and unexpectedly started to approach the doors of the library with cautious steps.

The Slayer heard footsteps and heavy breathing coming from the hallway, the sounds getting nearer by the second. The gang rapidly caught on to what Buffy was perceiving and started to quietly armed themselves. When the sounds could be heard by all in the room, Buffy stepped to the blind side of the doors and prepared herself for a battle. She wished it wasn't a long one as it was fast approaching dawn, her body was crying for rest and on top of that she had to take a quiz in a couple of hours. The doors slammed open and the panting person dashed in.

"Hey gang! Santa's here with ugly gifts." The brunette's smiling face was greeted by a right hook to the face. The hit caught the Slayer completely off guard and made her drop the box of Gavrok.

"Motherfu-uuh!" The dark Slayer held a hand over her bleeding nose before looking at her comrade Slayer with incredulity.

"Faith."

Buffy stepped back and watched the girl with wariness. She wasn't sure what to make of her hated enemy after witnessing the unforeseen events of the past hour. The small blonde was about to demand what she was playing at when Angel suddenly shouted her name and a biting pain took over her right leg. She looked down and found a giant cockroach attached to her and doing it's best to munch through her flesh.

"Ahhh get it off, get it off!" she cried while aggressively shaking her leg in an effort to dislodge the slimy bug.

Meanwhile the Boston Slayer was about to lend a helping hand when she saw another giant bug crawling around the floor. She leapt after it and squashed it with the bottom of her boots, yellow goo splattered all around her landing.

"Groff!" then she noticed another one emerging from the opened box she had dropped and scattering away into the dark corners of the library. "Wes! Is bhe bosh!" revealed the brunette Slayer while trying to keep track of the hiding mutant cockroach.

"The what?" asked the young Watcher, not being able to understand her speech.

But in good fortune Giles understood and rapidly went to close the lid of the box, cutting off the leg of another emerging bug. He then ran to the pedestal were the Breath of the Atropyx was being conjured. The box needed to be destroyed before anymore trouble came out of it.

"Is it done yet?"

Willow, Oz and Xander had been distracted first by Faith's entrance and later by Buffy's plight who after being helped by Angel was now returning the favor since the nasty critter decided to bite down on the vampire's back. Giles' question brought their attention to what they were doing before all disturbances. Willow jumped back to the pedestal, her hands sprinkling small lilac petals into it.

"O-oh, it just needs a little more sage. There, one hot magical breath coming up."

The contents of the pedestal were poured on to the box causing it to instantly ignite in bright blue flames. As the dark metal melted under the intense mystical heat, horrible screeches could be heard coming from the inside. The spell burned for 20 seconds before consuming the box and itself, leaving behind only a scorch mark on the floor.

"Let's hope that troll of a man doesn't sees that." muttered Giles.

A loud clatter by the weapons' cage had them all turning to check out the racket but then Buffy caught their attention when she wrenched the bug out of Angel's back and sent it sailing towards the check-out desk. The bug smacked against it and fell stunned to the floor. Before it could recover, Buffy slid over the floor like a baseball player going for home and crushed the cockroach between her outstretched boot and the desk. The yellow guts of the demon bug left a slimy yellow stain on its surroundings.

"That slime better come off my boots. Is that all off them?"

To answer her question Xander heard an inhuman squeal from above him and as he looked up, he saw a silvery and black flash. With a resounding thwack the Scoobies all turned their heads to the floor were another bug now laid, a throwing knife stabbed through its squirming body. Xander gulped and looked to where the knife came from.

"Bahff al'o bem."

Faith came into view from the weapon's cage fiddling with her bleeding nose.

"Uff my nobe." She gazed on the untrusting Scoobies with unbelieving surprise. "Waf I really bhab bad? Gob! bhab' r'ly hurff."

She was quickly aided by Wesley who had come down from his chair and ran to her side taking out a small handkerchief for her to use. The Slayer grabbed the offered item and held it to her nose while tilting her head back, though the position didn't stop her from scowling at the Watcher moodily.

"Greab Wes, way 'o pub me on bhe spob."

"What?"

The Slayer looked partially annoyed before snorting forcefully on the kerchief and wiping her nose thoroughly. Her nose was swollen and discolored but it was no longer bleeding. The Slayer gave back the blood stained kerchief to the Watcher who grabbed it between his fingertips in partial disgust.

"Gotta love that Slayer healing. I said, way to put me on the spot man. You know waking up in the middle of some Godfather reenactment hugging a twitchy redhead. Surprised the hell out of me and it sure wasn't how I though we were going to play it out. You're lucky I caught on so fast!"

"Yes I know but I had no choice in the matter. It was unprecedented and I really though it over before deciding it was time—"

"Could someone clue me in here because I seem to have completely missed the joke?" snarled Buffy while looking from Faith to Wesley.

"Ditto" added Willow.

"Ditto Ditto, or is that Dithree?" questioned Xander in deep thought.

"I think you're better off with the first one" Oz's passive voice interjected.

Wesley straightened out and assumed his usual pretentious countenance while directing smug smile at Buffy.

"Well Ms. Summers what you've witnessed is but the conclusion of a grandiose and ingenious plan which I thought out. You see the—"

"You pompous bastard!"

Giles's fist was already making a collision course towards Wesley's stupefied face but then Faith caught his moving arm and managed to halt the attack.

"Woah G, let's chill okay? There've been enough face fixes for the day. Let princess soak on his glory, it wasn't a bad plan."

"Faith, what he did was out of the question and you shouldn't have been a part of it!"

"Shouldn't have been a part of what?" demanded an annoyed Buffy.

"Hey I fooled that guy good out there…I think."

"It is not doubt in your abilities b-but the principle behind. The- the way you were used!"

"Used how?" growled Buffy.

"A Sleeper" muttered Angel in immediate comprehension. His comment seemed to turn a light on Willow's mind as her eyes widened while looking at Faith in a different light.

"A Sleeper mind spell from the Dewittian Grimoire? Really? But those are pretty hard to concoct a-and I read most don't really work as they should since they focus on the brain which you know, can easily get fried up o-or scrambled."

"What? My brain is gonna blow? Wes!"

"Your brain is going to be fine Faith. The spell worked perfectly and I'd like to remind everyone that it was thanks to it that we got back the box of Gavrok and thus have possibly put a stop to Mayor Wilkins' ascension plans."

Wesley's self righteous answer not only rankled Giles but surprisingly Angel and Willow as well who were all looking quite a bit angered and decided to question agitatedly Wesley's authority over his actions. Meanwhile Faith watched on in confusion as the debate escalated into a shouting fight.

"You have no right!-"

"-a-a spell so volatile-"

"I had it under control-"

"-could have never woken up-"

"-bloody lucky it actually functioned!"

"Everybody Shut! Up!" screamed the petite Slayer after having enough of being ignored. "I want to know what happened to Faith and I want to know it now!...The betrayal. The fights. All-all the bad….Was it all just an act?"

Confronted with the blonde Slayer's slightly moistened eyes, the young Watcher couldn't seem to find the words to explain to her what was true and what wasn't. Buffy then turned her shocked gaze to Faith to search for the truth in her expression, but the brunette could only offer her an unsure frown and a shrug.

"I dunno B, maybe? I- well I really don't remember…anything. Right now I dunno how much time has passed. You know, since…the docks."

"But t-then how? What-.. I was so sure…you…"

"It was not an act Buffy."

Angel's somber voice made both Slayers peer at him in question.

"The Faith that betrayed and attacked us was not faking it. She was truly in league with the Mayor and she fully shared his beliefs. All she did, she did because she wanted to. But this Faith never wanted to fight against you."

"Okay…I'm confused"

"No kidding. I'm confused too B and am the one that got the whammy put on. I thought I was just going to become some brainless lackey."

"I'll explain Buffy." Willow jumped in with sudden enthusiasm. "You see, the Sleeper spell not only subjugates the mind of the host agent and puts him o-or her in this case, to sleep, heh like the name says, but in order to um bamboozle the enemy, it creates well a-a shiny new mind or not new new per se, I mean a separate mind from that of the host that is composed of the knowledge stored in his or her primary mind."

Seeing Buffy and Faith's confounded expressions Willow blew out a frustrated sight and decided to explain herself in a simpler manner.

"Faith's mind gave birth to another Faith mind…an evil mind by the looks of it."

"…so my brain had magical sex? Kidding Red, don't look at me like that." Willow ignored the smiling Slayer and went back to cleaning up Giles' pedestal, her moodiness betrayed by her movements which were a tad brusquer than necessarily. The Boston southie frowned at the redhead's unfriendly gestures before going back to the topic at hand.

"So my evil mind baby was running my bod then. Makes some sense."

"Oh now I get the buttons! That was the secret phrase right?" exclaimed Xander with excitement. Seeing Wesley confirm with a nod he continued. "Kind of like a Bond novel. Mysterious phrase brings out a boat load of kick ass! Oh yeah! Hmm, but makes you wonder if there aren't any sleepers waiting to pop out around us."

"I always feel strange after hearing the word spork." commented a lackadaisical Oz which made Xander look at the werewolf with sudden caution.

"Yes well Xander, as chilling as that thought may be, you need not worry. Sleeper mind spells are seldom used due to the low chances of achieving a successful sleeper which are around 300 to 1. And it is why I'm outraged, Wesley, that you took advantage of your authority and deliberately forced one of your charges under such a spell."

"I didn't force Faith. I gave her the option to use the spell and explained in a concise manner what it pertained. She listened and then chose freely."

"You told me it was my last chance to make up for Allan." The young Slayer remarked with a dirty look.

"You what? You blackmailed her with the accident? We were supposed to help her through it!"

"Now now Ms. Summers, it wasn't really blackmail" he declared but there was a smidge of doubt in his tone. "You see,…she escaped and erm…Look, t-the Council had already decided that Faith was dangerously unstable. There was even talk, I heard, about just h-having a new Slayer. This plan was..the _only way_ I could convince them to…well actually give Faith a fighting chance since it seemed that there wasn't going to be a trial. And excuse me but I preferred to take dismal odds over the other option."

Wesley took off his glasses and occupied himself in cleaning the lenses; his ducked head hid his expression from the others. Everybody was speechless while their minds tried to process the reasons behind Wesley's undercover machinations.

"…A new Slayer?" whispered Buffy, not clearly understanding how. Angel turned to look at her with grave eyes.

"They were going to kill her."

Faith paled at knowing how close she came to death, the though bringing back old feelings of anger and distrust. Were they going to kill her now anyway? She tried her best to stamp down on those feelings so that she could talk steadily.

"But now I'm good right? I did good, I..I made up for my mess right? I mean, I got you your box a-a-and I haven't killed no more so there shouldn't….I should…I can stay?"

"You did more than good Faith. And there shouldn't have been any reason against letting you stay. For me, for all of us, there wasn't. The fact of the matter is that it shouldn't have been about you making it up to us but the contrary. We were supposed to help you come to terms with the Deputy Mayor's death which I will reiterate was an unfortunate accident and thus _no one _was at fault. No one."

The Watcher made sure the Slayer understood those last words. That she knew she wasn't being blamed nor persecuted. He needed to make sure things were handled properly this time because he still remembered the heavy sentiment of failure that draped over him when Faith's betrayal was known to him. And although he acknowledged that there was really no betrayal he still knew that it wasn't at all unthinkable. If pushed and abandoned the Slayer could become a danger to herself and to others as well.

Giles laid a hand on Faith's shoulder and regarded her with shining concern. The actions made the Slayer knit her brows and lower her head to dodge the British man's intense stare.

"Faith, you shouldn't feel guilty, but sad for the loss of life. We just wanted you to mourn."

The Slayer raised her shivering eyes and for a moment it looked like Faith was actually going to say something before she took notice of the other eyes resting on her and the spell was broken. She stepped back and out of Giles' grip and ran a trembling hand over her dark locks.

"Look my head is pounding. Almost bust a lung running and then those spiders. I'm just going to call it a night, sack out." Faith started walking to the library doors, her thoughts revolving around the night's events and Giles' words when a sudden preoccupation made her stop.

"Dammit, my stuff. Johnny probably rented out my room long ago. Or maybe Other Me took it all with her. Does anyone know where I was living?" She was answered by shaking heads all around.

"That's great. Back to poor and homeless." She muttered with bitterness at the loss of her meager but valued possessions.

"There's plenty of room at the mansion. I don't mind."

Faith looked up at Angel in surprise and a bit of gratefulness before turning to Buffy.

"That cool with you B?" Although the blonde looked on the edge at the suggestion she managed to push aside her feeling of insecurities and offered an affirmation to Faith.

"Alright Fang, but I ain't sleeping in no coffin. And no chains either."

The last comment brought rare chuckles from the vampire and a surge of mistrust to Buffy who couldn't help herself. She still couldn't reconcile the Faith in front of her with the one that terrorized her the past month and it was bothering her. She knew it wasn't fair to the other Slayer, to feel resent for actions that weren't really her fault but it was just so difficult to forget it all, to trust her face again. Before she knew it, Angel had kissed her goodbye and was already out the library doors with the other Slayer.

Buffy stood paralyzed in indecision before she made up her mind and ran after the pair, missing Willow's sorrowful expression. Angel and Faith were walking out the front doors when her shout made them come to a standstill.

"Wait! Faith! C-could we talk. Alone." She added the last while throwing a pleading look at Angel. The vampire understood his love's needs for a heart to heart with her sister Slayer and thus nodded his consent before going back inside the High school.

"What's up B?"

"Can we…sit down?"

Raising an eyebrow to reflect her questioning thoughts, Faith decided to humor the blonde, walked towards the small steps that lead out into the outside of the school and took a seat in the top step. Following her movements Buffy sat down besides the other Slayer and looked out to the dark skies and the empty streets. The calm and silence were acting like a balm on her, with its soothing quiet helping organize her tumultuous thoughts. But to the Boston Slayer the extended silence only made her even more nervous than she already was by sitting mere inches besides Buffy and it seemed that hugging her knees to her body were the only thing that was keeping her limbs from twitching in anxiety. She was certainly glad when the blonde broke the awkward silence and chose to speak.

"So..You're helping us now."

"Got the bruises to show for it. And a wrinkly lover if I read that Mayor guy right. God I hope Other Me didn't sleep with him." The disturbing disgust the Slayer felt was reflected on Buffy's face too before the small blonde went back to being thoughtful.

"Why did you do it?"

"Why not? What, don't like it when someone else steals the show?"

Buffy frowned about to reply before being interrupted by Faith.

"Okay, I know. Way off base…sorry…I just….I did it so you'd know. That I really do want to do good. Be on your side. I…I just wanted you to trust me, because maybe…maybe that way I could trust you too and I _really_ been wanting to do that for a long time."

"You didn't need to do that to win my trust."

"No I do needed to! Guhh You know how hard it was to get you to even look at me. I tried _so _hard to-to impress you! So stupid!" she shouted while grasping her head in frustration.

"Playing fearless girl, but it still got your attention. And I was happy because you talked to me and we hung out a lot and you actually _liked_ hanging. You even went out of your way to be with me." The brunette had a smiled that echoed her disbelief at such a possibility. "But then all the stupid caught up. Allan. You were looking at me so differently, like I was bad news."

"It wasn't you! I was scared Faith. I was scared for the both of us. And the guilt, it was choking me every minute. I just couldn't understand how you got on so well while I felt like I was dying inside."

"But I _wasn't_ getting on well and you noticed it. I felt it too." The last words were almost whispered as the Slayer got a faraway look in her eyes.

"That night, when I came back for the body, I stood there in front of him…and I wished so badly for it to not be real." Tears leaked out of the Slayer's scrunched eyes, trying her best to swallow a sob as she remembered that moment.

"He was so quiet and I just wanted him to wake up because if vampires and demons don't seem to stay dead then why did he. I didn't even stab him that hard and he just fell down so fast. If he hadn't been so fucking fragile!"

When she couldn't hold back the emerging sobs, Faith buried her crying face in her arms to hide her pain from her fellow Slayer. But the trembling and her gasping were too noticeable and only made Buffy feel sad. She carefully laid an arm around the shaking Slayer's back and when the girl didn't flinch away, brought out the other one and embraced her, just like Willow did to her that night she was suffering. Faith hesitated for a moment before uncrossing her arms and grasping onto the petite Slayer like a lifeline.

"I didn't know. I really didn't know." her words now being hiccupped while she buried her face on Buffy's shoulder.

"….I know, I didn't know either." Buffy whispered. A tear leaked out and caressed her cheek.

Behind the school doors Angel smiled sadly as he heard the Slayers release their grief and finally come to terms with the events that separated them.

**--------To be continued--------**


	3. The prom

**Disclaimer**: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox Studios and Joss Whedon respectively. Their use in this fan fiction is purely for pleasure and pays no profits.

**--------Chp 3: The prom--------**

A young man ran full throttle through Miller's Woods in Sunnydale, getting hit by branches and barely managing to dodge trees. But his mind was not in the stinging pain the branch hits created on his body but on the…_things_ that were hunting him. He thought he had lost them when he got out of the cemetery but when he took a look over his shoulder he spotted them some meters away still giving chase so he took off into the night as if his feet were on fire. Now he was desperate for help because he knew he was tiring and they were going to catch him soon. Then he recognized a particular boulder and renewed hope filled his steps.

_Just a few more meters. Please just a few more._

An impulse of fear made him glance backwards towards his pursuers. It was that moment of inattention that cost him the chase. He ran straight into a downed tree and went flying face first into the damp grass. He was scrambling to get back on his feet when hands grabbed a hold of his jacket and hurled him into a thick tree. He smacked against it, the bark shaving some of the skin of his face, but he didn't get a moment's peace. As the hands yet again pulled him up, a flurry of fist started beating on his face.

Sheer terror gripping him, the young man swung out his own fists in order to defend himself but both swings were easily dodged by his dark clothed assailant. He tried to hit its stomach with a knee shot but his raised leg was arrested by its quick hands grabbing on to it. The thing then growled and with inhuman strength lifted the young man's body and sent it flying over its shoulders--and straight into its blonde companion who pitched a stake while he was still in the air. The stake stroked true and by the time he reached his second assailant he was dust dancing in the wind.

"Boom! Another one bites the dust. What was he, number 7?"

The blonde dusted her red jacket off the remains of her victim while watching amusedly as her partner jumped around with uncontrolled excitement. Her companionship on lonely patrols was something she had dearly missed those dark months, and now valued more than ever. With an impish smile, Buffy shot a sideways look to her dark haired friend while assuming a thoughtful countenance.

"Hmmm. Well I got 5 with this one and I think you were on 3 so…"

"Nu uh girlfriend, that last one counts double. I softened him up."

"Okay but that still leaves you behind anyway. You might as well crown me."

The other Slayer mock glared at the primping petite before her eyes settled on a cabin in a clearing not to far from them. The feature that had called her attention the most were its boarded up windows and the dawning fact that the vampire they were chasing had been headed towards it. With a growing grin the Slayer took out a long stake.

"Looks like the board isn't empty yet B."

The blonde Slayer turned around and discerned what made the other Slayer so happy. A grin of her own now adorned her face as well.

"Got any matches?"

The brunette flipped out a Zippo.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"10 to 8, which makes _me, _Queen of the night!"

The now dusty Slayers walked out of the woods together leaving behind a burning cabin, they're laughter could be heard all the way to the street they were headed to.

"That's not fair. Those last two practically staked themselves. Plus, I got the muscley big one so I should get bonus points."

And to her they would be well deserved bonus points. That vampire's hair brushed the ceiling! Buffy actually had to jump in order to reach his heart and stake him so not being properly recognized for such an amazing kill made her a bit cranky. The blonde Slayer was actually pouting while the Boston southie took to walking backwards in order to properly face and tease her.

"Twinkie don't be a sore loser, and there's always next night. Though I've been queen three nights in a row so that doesn't say much on your chanc-whoa." Buffy burst into giggles as the other Slayer almost fell down on her ass because of an unseen root.

"A most graceful queen, your slayery highness."

Faith narrowed her eyes in challenge but wasn't able to hold back her amused snorts and snickers. She felt as if she was buzzed and every little thing was suddenly hilarious. It was a strange but lightening feeling and she couldn't help but be in a great mood.

"It feels wicked awesome. You know, being back again. The Chosen two, wiping vamps off the face of the earth. Or the hellmouth first."

"At the rate we're going we may hit a shortage in vampires."

"That could put a downer on slayage." said Faith in a concerned manner. "You think the net would sell us some?"

"Absolutely, that's where I got Angel. He came with accessories too."

The Boston Slayer couldn't help but laugh at the thought. The image of Buffy cyber shopping for a souled vampire was too bizarre.

"What was he, Brooding Vampire Ken? Nah but seriously, you should pay the Big Guy a visit. He's been all mopey and silent. And he's making me listen to this guy named Barry." The Slayer grabbed on tightly to Buffy's shoulder and looked at her with seriousness.

"B, I would rather hear you both getting pelvic than have to listen to another round of 'Mandy'."

"Faith!" the blonde blushed.

"What? Just come over for a drink and relax, maybe a little massage and then stuff leads to stuff and—"

"And nothing! The-there is no discussion of pelvises. Or any other body part. But you're right, he has been kind of extra broody this last few days…"

"Uh huh?"

"…and I do feel kind of tired so…"

Faith was staring at her stonily at her stalling.

"Alright, but just for a nap, that's all."

"Nap hehe, I remember when _I_ used to say that."

"Faith!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

In Northern edge of Sunnydale, Mayor Richard Wilkins was standing in the middle of a messy apartment. A slight frown decorated his visage as he looked around the room finding candy on the bed, comic books on the floor and blankets thrown all around the furniture. The disorder was bothering him, both what touched him more was the absence of its maker. Everywhere he looked he saw a memory of her, his little firecracker. Or was she ever?

_No, I'd know it if she wasn't truthful. She wouldn't be able to hide it for long. _

His Faithy was many things but a good liar. No, he believed something else made her turn on him that night. That Watcher clearly said something strange and out of order. It could have been a spell but at the moment he had no knowledge of one composed of such words. But if it was, he only needed to find out why the Watcher chose to cast it then and how did it change Faith.

Making up his mind, the Mayor started cleaning up the clutter surrounding him all the while thinking about perusing his private library and his new goal.

_I will save you._

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was another shining day at Sunnydale High as students laughed and talked about the latest gossips while making their way to their classes. Some of them were speaking anxiously about the next approaching special event which was the Senior Prom. This was going to be a particularly huge and highly attended party compared to other Proms as the class of '99 was the largest graduating class in Sunnydale High history. That also meant there wasn't going to be any scarcity on dates so going stag was most definitely out of the question.

Faith arrived early on the school on her way to the library. Giles wanted to yet again examine her in case there were any after effects from the spell Wesley used. The old Watcher had pardoned his colleague but was still worried of the possible repercussions she could suffer from such an obscure spell and thus had made it a requirement that she checked in at least once a week for a 'physical'.

It was boring and lame but it wasn't like she had anything better to do during the day, and she _was_ making an effort to be more receptive. Anyway, Buffy was going to be by later and Faith had been itching for a spar….and Angel gossip.

The Slayer was weaving around some parked cars hearing students conversing here and there, all about the same thing. Prom. Wondering who's going to ask who, if they already gotten their dresses or tuxes, who would be dateless. By the sound of it, getting caught dateless on the big night would be the ultimate social death. She knew for a fact Buffy was going with Angel, and Willow had her thing with Oz. But as she found out, Xander and Cordelia broke up. And going by the way the boy had been grumbling in the past library meetings, the snobby rich girl may have been the only chance he had at a Prom date. Her guilt for her acts against him made her feel for the guy.

Still, Faith really didn't get what the big deal was. To her it was just another dance. Fun yeah, but not really life changing. Maybe it was a student thing.

Faith passed by a thin blonde telling off some perfectly coiffed guy about his features which to her were sexually pleasing but typical of cheating swine. It would have been a perfectly normal comment to hear from some random high school couple if the girl hadn't abruptly asked the guy to take her to Prom.

"Hey, I'm running out of options for dates. I have to choose between pigs and weasels so it shouldn't surprise you."

"You're a messed up chick! Go take a Midol or something."

"I haven't met this Midol guy. Wait, don't go! Was that a yes or a no?"

This high school was sure filled with crazies. The Slayer was already climbing up the front steps when a harebrained idea came up to her. Maybe she could drain out some of her guilt.

"Hey Blondie!" she yelled as she jogged towards the thin girl. "Yeah you, you want a Prom date?"

"While your alluring features may attract and satisfy a large part of your fragile species, my needs require a human male. Though the offer is quite flattering and I understand your choice in women partners. They are far more trust worthier."

That one actually left her dumbstruck. She was second thinking her plan when she decided that it wouldn't harm to give Xander a chance and let him choose. Not like he wasn't used to crazy.

"…Yyyeah, no. I meant that I know someone who's free and won't say no, even to you. Trust me, he's desperate."

"Who is this male?"

-x-x-x-x-x-

Hours later, in Giles' office, the Watcher was conducting Faith in some meditation exercises that were suppose to serene her mind and give her a higher awareness to perceive any unnatural phenomena. So far the Slayer was bored out of her mind and the only thing she had succeeded to do was give herself a mild headache for concentrating to much. Her brain just wasn't used to such heavy pondering since she dropped out of high school.

Meanwhile out in the library, Willow, Oz, Buffy and Xander were discussing the dos and don'ts of Prom attire and what kind of dress they though on wearing to it.

"So it was blue and sorta short." Buffy said to Willow while glancing into her old Watcher's office.

"Not too short, but medium. And it had this weird, sorta fringey stuff on its arms."

"Yeah. Do you think they're going to be done there soon?"

Willow caught sight of what Buffy was looking at and thus referring to with her abrupt question. The red head's face clouded up and she began fiddling with the sleeves of her shirt.

"I don't know. They've been at it since this morning." She mumbled.

Xander jumped up in a pronounced shudder that shook up his entire body.

"Uhuhuh, I just shocked myself with a very disturbing image. It could qualify as unholy."

"A demon?" interjected Giles as he walked out of his office and towards a bookcase. Faith followed up behind him and dropped herself in a chair besides Buffy.

"No, just Xander's dirty mind. What's wrong with your head?" Buffy asked the last to the other Slayer who was massaging her forehead with her fingers.

"Nothing, just used it too much." she grinned "Haven't done it since a Bio midterm in tenth grade. Now that's something I don't miss."

"Maybe because you didn't appreciate all the complexity of living organisms." harrumphed Willow while pouting in a sulky manner. She thought 10th grade biology was actually a pretty fun class, without the frog dissection of course.

"I think it's the complexity part that makes it unmissable, Wills. Bio was torture. I was always distracted by Angel thoughts and I think Mrs. Tingle could read minds. Her eyes just pierced me every time I started spacing out."

"I was just too busy finding out about sex. Much more interesting I tell ya." added in Faith with a cheeky grin.

"As fascinating as that is, we need to concentrate on any recent demonic anomalies. Faith, could you look in the main desk for a book with a scarlet leather binder? It's uh an encyclopedia that I believe may tell us more about the sort of spell the Mayor used to become invulnerable."

"Giles, we're talking Prom here. Can't you ever get your mind out of the hellmouth?" whined Buffy as her talking partner got up to rifle through huge stacks of books.

"I'd be delighted to. However, an immortal dark sorcerer is still out there, most probably holding a grudge against us. We may have stopped his Ascension but I doubt the Mayor is going to stay down and quiet. Also we must remember, he did threaten Wesley."

"That is something I'm quite concerned of, Mr. Giles." Wesley entered the library trailed closely by Cordelia. "With such a danger it's safe to say we shouldn't waste any time in such trifling matters as a school dance"

"Well, that's too bad, because I bet you would look way double 'o' seven in a tux." Cordelia commented in a flirtatious tone that made the young Watcher adjust his tie and suit.

"Except, of course, on the actual night when I will be aiding Mr. Giles in his chaperoning duties."

"What? E-Excuse me?" Giles wanted to protest but noticing he was already unknowingly signed up for the task he deferred acceptance. "Fine, fine, fine."

"You should get a dress Faith. You know, we should check April Fools." suggested the blonde Slayer.

"Don't go there!" shouted Cordelia, then noticing their stares she let out a weak smile. "I shop there."

"Don't worry Queen C." the brunette Slayer said without lifting her head from her search of the red book. "I'm not planning on going. I mean, it isn't like it's _my_ Prom so no big deal for me."

"But then, you'd be alone that night. Bored. C'mon Faith, don't be such a fun sucker. Live a little as you say."

"Nah B, that's gonna be your night and someone's got to patrol so I could do the sweeps while you dance. Besides it's a formal and dresses ain't cheap."

"She's right there Buff. I myself am dipping into my road trip fund to procure a shiny new tux, so look for me to dazzle."

"And I myself will be wearing pink taffeta as chenille would not go with my complexion. Can we _please_ talk about the Mayor?

And as if summoned by name, the Mayor of Sunnydale walked in through the doors of the library stunning the gang into silence. Faith, being the nearest, looked up at his entrance and rapidly put down the book she was holding in order to stand ready for a fight.

"So, this is the inner sanctum. Faith told me this is where you folks like to hang out, concoct your little schemes."

At the mention of her name, the Boston Slayer frowned and took a step back. Her movements caught the Big Bad's attention and he settled his gaze upon her.

"And there's my little firecracker. I hope they're treating you well. I would be very cross if something were to happen to you."

"You threatening me?" Faith tried to sound brave but her voice had wavered for a moment.

"Never." He said it with such intensity and vehemence that it left her floored. She broke out of her befuddlement when she felt a hand on her shoulder pull her back gently.

"Faith, you should come over to us." whispered a nervous Wesley as he made to distance Faith from the evil Mayor.

"You Mr. Pryce, You may think you were so smart but I know now what you did back there. And shame on you, messing up my Faithy's mind."

"I ret-turned Faith to her n-natural state of being. T-to her, the _real_ her, you're but a stranger and her enemy." His last words uttered with surging courage as he stood besides Faith.

Wesley's declaration brought a shadow of upset into the Mayor's gloating eyes. The politician took a step forward and at the same time Faith moved to get between the Watcher and him. Her eyes clearly displayed she viewed him as a threat she was prepared to defend against.

"You took away my sweet Faith. That is something I can not forget" said the Mayor somberly but then assumed an upbeat demeanor. "I mean what kind of public servant would I be if I didn't keep my word. And gosh, I was such a strong advocate for good family values during my last campaign. It's like they say, having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist."

"You never get even a little tired of hearing yourself speak, do you? Worst, you don't seem to get with the times. You lost, we won. Bo ho, get over it." Buffy declared in a peppy manner, her stance in front of the Scoobies one of confidence.

"You're one spunky little girl. I could just eat you to pieces, but I can't anymore right? Well Buffy Summers, you're wrong. If I were you, I'd get set for a world of hurt because misery loves company young lady, and I'll be looking to share mine with you and yours."

The Mayor took a chance to send one last glance at Faith's tense face before turning on his feet and walking out of the library. The gang let out a breath when their big enemy disappeared out the doors. Wesley had to seat down because his knees were failing him. Faith, who looked disturbed herself, had gone back to the desk to deliver the red encyclopedia to Giles.

"Nothing like some mind numbing fear to spice up the day. Say G-man, how come anyone can walk in here whenever they please? Whatever happened to student security?"

"Xander, he's the Mayor of Sunnydale. I don't think he would have problems walking in anywhere. But his visit is most worrisome. Perhaps we should—" An annoyed Buffy interrupted him.

"No, forget him Giles. He's a sore loser and we deserve a little prommy fun. One night of glory without thinking about whiny bad guys and demon cooties. Is that to much to ask?"

-x-x-x-x-x-

Inside a suburban house in Sunnydale a young man set up a VCR and loaded a tape into it. A scene of various couples slow dancing lights up on the T.V. As the sappy song escalated in volume loud snarling and growling were suddenly heard.

There was a caged hairy beast being forced to watch the movie and each scene was making it become more enraged. His agitated trashing around started breaking off the joints in the cage which looked like they might come apart if the beast kept at it.

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was late at night as Faith made a last circuit around Shady Acres Cemetery before heading back to the mansion. Her thoughts were revolving around the Mayor's earlier visit and the disturbing theory that maybe her Other self hadn't been some sleazy lover on the side.

She saw the guy upfront, and he had looked too mad for her sake and pretty determined to do something about it. The thought scared her and so did the feelings she unexpectedly felt when he looked at her last. There was a tenderness there she hadn't seen since Professor Dormer, her first Watcher. And he called her firecracker. Her mom used to call her that. She was pondering about asking Giles if it was possible to access her Other self's memories when she sighted Buffy leaning heavily against a gravestone.

"Buffy! Buffy what's wrong? You hurt?" but as she reached the California blonde she found her uninjured.

"Sheesh, you scared me. For a moment I thought the Mayor had come after you."

"…He did." whispered the blonde, her moist eyes lost in the sea of graves. "In a way. He hurt me bad."

"What? B, I'm gonna take you to Fang. You're not talking sense here. He'll fix you up." The brunette prepared to drape an arm around Buffy and help her walk to the mansion when the blonde Slayer released a small sob.

"Angel left me. He left me Faith, and now I can't breathe. I feel like I can't breathe." Buffy fell to her knees, grabbing on to the other Slayer's pants to keep herself off the floor. Faith found herself out of sorts as the blonde burst into sobs and started crying against her legs.

"Ev-verything's h-horrible. I f-feel so cold. And it takes s-so much effort, to just keep m-moving."

"Uhm..I..eh…"

_Shit, I suck at this. _The brunette thought before settling to sit down against the nearby headstone. Buffy's gripping body followed her movement and rested partially on top of the dark haired girl's lap were she continued to cry her heart out about Angel leaving town after they dealt with the Mayor. The news stunned her since that also meant she was going to be all alone at the mansion. Or would he take her with him? _Would_ she go with him if he asked?

She tried her best to push away her worries in order to console her friend by awkwardly running her hands through the blonde's hair. In the movies that and soothing talk always seemed to do the job so she decided to give it her best try.

"I-I'm here Buffy. I'm staying." She looked away in thought before pinching her lips in determination and repeating herself. "I'm staying."

-x-x-x-x-x-

The next day, Faith was feeling the hurts of being Buffy's outlet for her breakup pain. Both Slayers were aggressively sparring in the open space of the library while Willow, Oz and the Watchers observed silently by the table. Buffy had just finished delivering a combination of punches which the other Slayer struggled to deflect when she quickly switched to kicks and managed to land one in Faith's shoulder. The hit sent the Slayer spinning to the floor where she landed with a pained gasp. It was then that Xander and Cordelia entered the library talking about a demon attack in broad daylight.

_Thank you God._ Faith thought before staggering up and sitting down to hear Xander and Cordelia's account.

After watching the store security video tape that the two teens brought and identifying the demon as a Hellhound, Cordelia brought up a founded observation that led the Scoobies to the conclusion the beast was targeting people in formal wear. Then Oz recognized on the tape a suspicious looking boy with a remote in his hand. In a matter of time they identified their hellhound raiser. Tucker Wells, some quiet shy boy Oz had chemistry class with. Willow got into his email account easily and after reading through his conversations, to the Scoobies' bad fortune, they found out he was planning to attack the school Prom.

Xander and Willow were already cancelling their much desired Prom plans when they were stopped by Buffy who gave a disturbing speech about making sure there was a Prom for them even if she had to annihilate every one on Earth to make it happen. And like a veil had descended on her, she was suddenly General Buffy sending them out to look for clues and going in her own crazy mission in search for brains. Not for herself, but for the Hellhounds. They found them appetizing.

Faith, who got stuck with Cordelia and Wesley checking out Tucker's house, didn't get back to the library hours later.

"Where's B? She found out were the beasties at?

"Faith, uh yes she did. Got an address from the meat packing plant, where the boy ordered the brains. She already went after him."

"By herself? Why didn't she wait for me? I could have gone with her. Help out."

"She uh wanted everyone to enjoy the night. Rather settled on it, she was."

"Well is not like I had plans."

"I may have an objection to that." stated a third voice.

Faith turned questioningly to the library's door where Wesley stood holding a thin wide box.

"Mr. Giles, could you perhaps give Faith and I a moment alone?"

Giles glanced from the confused Slayer to the young Watcher who was surprisingly serious and composed.

"It's alright, I was already going. Have to prepare for the dance as I'll be unfortunately chaperoning." The last words were spoken with an ounce of vexation. "I'll see you both later."

"Later? G, I'm not going…" she trailed off as the Watcher had already departed the library. She then looked to the remaining one. "What's going on Wes?"

"I.. uhm well I had a bit of spare money. After buying the tuxedo. And eh…store was nearby." The British man cleared his throat, walked to her ceremoniously and offered her the white box in his hands. "Here. I bought you this. I hope it's fitting-that it fits you well I mean! as I uh couldn't know for sure."

With shaky hands Faith took off the lid of the box to reveal it's papery inside where a beautiful midnight blue dress rested folded. The glittery black beads sewed on to it along with its satin like cloth caught the light of the library making for a spectacular view.

"Wes…why…"

"I understand this dance it's an important rite of passage for young people here. And even though you're not a student I see no reason to keep you from enjoying it as well."

The Slayer was still looking at the dress in silence, her hand ghosting over the contents of the box while her eyes took on every detail. Her non-response made the young watcher falter from his composed state.

"I-is there something wrong? Do you not like it? Because the store attendant said it w—"

"It's beautiful." She whispered. "I…I just don't know what to say. No one's ever…." She couldn't complete her sentence because of the emotions welling up in her.

"Well I'm glad you like it. You deserve this night as well, now go get ready."

Wesley settled the box on her hands and made his way out of the library.

"Wes!" Faith called making the Watcher stop at the doors. She clenched the gift to her body and sent him a rare gentle smile. "T-thanks. It means a lot."

"Anything for my Slayer." And with nod he was gone leaving behind a smiling Faith.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The Mayor was sitting on his office reading one of the multitudes of old books that covered his desk. Every now and then he would write down some notes in a small notebook at his side. He was going over a particularly interesting chapter about the human senses when a knock was heard from the door.

"You may come in." He replied while setting down his notebook.

A second later a vampire with his game face entered the office.

"The boys are ready to go."

"Gosh darned efficient they are. Some good boys."

The Mayor smiled jovially and picked up a colored wrinkled paper that looked out of place between all the magic texts and official documents. Its header read in funky letters 'Sunnydale High Class of '99 Senior Prom' detailing further down the time and place of the event.

"I'd say our friends are going to be a _little_ busy to receive us properly. But that's no bother. We can let ourselves in, right? No reason to disturb them."

The Mayor grinned back to the vampire who quickly answered with an awkward smile around his fangs.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Faith arrived back at the school in time to catch Buffy dragging some demon corpses across the quad. She jogged to the Slayer as fast as her heels let her.

"Hey, need a hand hiding the evidence?"

"Faith? Wow you look…wow. Where'd you get the amazing dress?"

"It was gift from someone. The question is why aren't _you_ all dolled up?"

Buffy hefted her weapon's pack and took out a black garment bag out of it. Faith raised her eyebrows and smirked at the smiling Slayer.

"Well c'mon chika! The night is young and she wants to par-tey."

After helping Buffy with her dress and make up, both Slayers walked into the decorated school gym looking absolutely breath-taking. Their united beauty made a few guys and girls eye the stunning late-comers admiringly.

Buffy spotted Giles and nodded her success on the night's slaying. The Watcher nodded back before spotting Faith and sending out a knowing smile. Willow then noticed Buffy and ran to greet her.

"Buffy! You made it! a-a-nd Faith too."

"Don't sound too exited." said Faith at the red head's faltering tone.

"N-n-no. I didn't mean—you both look awesome."

"Everything cool?" Oz asked Buffy to veer away the conversation.

"Coolest. Devil dogs are history. How's the prom?"

"Strangely affecting. I teared up when they played 'We Are Family'." answered Oz in his usual straight voice.

"Everything's perfect." Willow beamed at Buffy with happiness.

In that moment an upbeat rock song started playing and Faith jumped up in excitement grabbing a hold of Buffy's arm.

"This song rocks! C'mon girlfriend, let's go break stereotypes and have us some girl-on-girl fun!" In a flash the Boston Slayer had dragged away her friend into the crowded dance floor.

"…perfect."

"You said something Willow?" asked the werewolf.

"Nothing, I'm just thirsty. Let's go get some punch."

Later on the night, the music was turned off and the Prom committee started the class award presentations. Buffy was standing alone by the punch bowl table serving herself a glass. After dancing to 5 songs straight and boy that girl had stamina, Faith had made herself scarce saying she had to check up on her make up. But she had been gone far too long for that to be true. The blonde Slayer was contemplating looking for the other girl when she though she heard her name called out loud. A spot light shined on her figure and she turned around to be greeted by the staring populace of students. Jonathan, a boy she rescued from committing suicide, was standing at the stage looking at her confused face.

"This is actually a new category, first time ever, I guess there were a lot of write in ballots... and, uh, the prom committee has asked me  
to read this."

The small boy took out a wrinkled paper and read.

"We're not good friends."

Buffy prepared herself for some potential embarrassment of a prank after that starting statement.

"Most of us never found the time to get to know you. But that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. We don't talk about it much, but it's no secret Sunnydale High isn't really like other schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here."

And from the crowd of students emerged shouts of "Zombies!", "Hyena people!" and even "Snyder!" The last one caused a round of laughter around the student body.

"But whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you." Here he paused in his reading to look up at her in gratitude. "Or helped by you, at one time or another. We're proud to say that the class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history."

Jonathan stopped yet again as the last announcement caused the students to break into applause and cheering. After it died down the boy looked down at the paper in his hand and continued reading.

"We know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks, and ... gives you, uh, this..." After some fumbling about, the short boy produced a small decorated umbrella with a plaque spelling Buffy's name and award title. "It's from all of us, and it's got written here, 'Buffy Summers. Class Protector'."

Buffy was completely stunned and near tears at being recognized. She stepped onto the stage and accepted the award hearing the crowd clap for her. Looking out into the students she saw her friends smiling with joy and cheering her on wildly. She couldn't believe it. She was actually living out her desired High School moment. Recognized by her peers, Buffy never thought the doomed night would turn out to be such a happy event for her.

As she made her way down the stage, the music started playing again. The tunes of a romantic slow song brought all couples together in the dance floor. Buffy caressed her award and watched on with a bitter sweet smile.

"Hey girlfriend, sorry for the lateness. What I miss?"

"Xander lost class clown and I got a toy surprise." Buffy showed Faith the award.

"No way, you got something? Cool! See, things weren't so bad after all."

"They weren't. Anyway, where were you?"

"Here and there. Fixing up my face and stuff. We worked up quite a sweat in the floor."

The blonde narrowed her eyes in suspicion of the ambiguous answer but then decided to drop the matter.

"Yeah well I think the DJ is going to stick to slow sappy songs now so that's all the dancing you'll get for the rest of the night."

"I dunno. I was thinking of asking out the stud by the door but he's looking more at you than me."

Buffy followed her gaze and found Angel standing in an impressionable tuxedo.

"I'll take this." Faith said, stealing away her umbrella and walking away from the staring couple.

"I never thought you'd come."

"It's a big night. As some persistent people say." said Angel while shooting a quick glance to where Faith had gone.

"So that's where she went."

"She can be pretty stubborn when she wants to be. But it's just tonight. It doesn't mean that--"

"I know. I mean…I understand." Buffy says quietly. She looks at Angel with only a small amount of the pain she felt the past day.

"Will you dance with me?" he asked and Buffy folded in his arms. Looking over his broad shoulder while they danced the Slayer saw Faith holding some punch and pocketing a small canister into her dress. The brunette felt her eyes and turned to look at Buffy. Raising her glass in salute she smiled. Buffy mouthed back a silent but deeply felt 'thank you' before resting her head on Angel's chest and closing her eyes to savor the moment.

Things weren't bad at all.

**--------To be continued--------**


	4. The turn

**Disclaimer**: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox Studios and Joss Whedon respectively. Their use in this fan fiction is purely for pleasure and pays no profits.

**-Chp 4: The turn-**

"They took the journals."

The Scoobies had marched into the library Monday morning to find it in complete disarray. Books and papers were spread out over the floor, chairs were broken into pieces and Giles' office door was hanging by one of its hinges. As soon as he saw the disaster, Wesley had run straight to the office. It had only taken him seconds to find out what was missing there.

"All my journals, my notes. They left nothing." he blabbered with indignation.

There was a gasp by the weapon's cage and Buffy came out of it stomping in anger.

"My favorite ax! And that nice set of throwing knifes you gave me Giles, this is a low blow. How petty can you be?"

"About as much as it takes to write down deriding messages." scoffed Giles as he examined the broken down remains of the meeting table. The words 'Booya, Suckers' were spray-painted in its surface.

"We might as well spread out and search for anything else missing." he ordered wearily.

Willow, who had been skulking around the check out desk, found the broken monitor of the library computer. With a depressed face she mourned the loss of her trusty research helper. Then she took notice of another missing item.

"Giles, they took the rifle too! Oz needs that. For-for accidents."

"We'll get another one Willow. Right now, we need to find out who did this."

"Isn't it obvious? The Mayor clearly doesn't know how to flunk with dignity. And we don't have any other baddies after us."

"You got that right Buff" chipped in Xander. "All that's missing here is some peed on carpet. Op! I spoke to early. Guess we'll need new training mats too."

Buffy groaned in disgust and dismay.

"If it was really the Mayor, it seems a bit…childish for his taste." Giles took off his glasses to frown in thought. The robbery and vandalism gave the appearance of being done more by rebellious students than any supernatural threat.

"He had a sudden flashback to his Greaser days?" suggested Buffy weakly.

"Mr. Giles, Buffy may be right." Wesley walked to Giles with a list of his missing property.

"Really? I never pegged him as a biker. He speaks so dorkishly."

"No, I meant about the Mayor. Not only are my journals gone but so is my copy of the Dewittian Grimoire. All my other common spell books remain." Wesley looked frighten as he prepared to deliver the next sentence. "Mr. Giles, I wrote very detailed descriptions of the procedures I performed on Faith to prepare her for the mind spell."

Giles paled in horror as the implications set in.

"Wesley, tell me the Sleep Command wasn't in those journals."

"No! Good heavens no. I never wrote down the commands, but the journals could tell him which Sleeper mind spell I used. The perception sense chosen to receive the commands. Once he knows what kind of, of key he needs it could be a matter of time before he finds the right um shape that fits."

"Call Faith. We must warn her." ordered Giles.

"The Mansion doesn't have phones. But I can get there in 40 minutes if I run fast."

The Slayer was already dropping off her school bag to head out unhindered by any unnecessary weight. But to her confusion Giles grabbed a hold of her before she could continue.

"No Buffy, you got classes to attend. If you miss them you could jeopardize your graduation."

"Giles, Faith is more important than some stupid classes."

"I know. That's why I'll go in the car. You stay here and don't give Principal Snyder any more reasons to ruin your future."

"But…But. I want to go too."

"Don't worry Buffy, in the car I'll be faster. Besides, Angel will be there." With those parting words, the British man exited the destroyed library, leaving behind an indecisive Buffy.

"You notice how the G-man left us to clean up the mess?"

-x-x-x-x-x-

In Faith's apartment, Mayor Wilkins was laying down a pink floral printed sundress across one of the sofas. His face was decorated with a wistful smile as he took careful dedication to smooth out any wrinkles in the dress. It was going to be a gift for Faith so she had something nice to wear to the Ascension. Now he could only imagine what the day would have been liked, thanks to that disrespectful Summers girl. But he could still make it possible for his Faithy to wear his gift.

He brushed out one last invisible speck off the dress before sitting down in a chair to look over the contents on top of the coffee table. Several small journals and an old book laid before him, one of the journals opened in a page discussing auditory hypnosis. He had already read through all of the Watcher's notes pertaining the Sleeper spell he chose to use. The easiest out of them all, he noted. But then again an easy mind spell is still one of the most complicated and dangerous magic one can conjure.

The immortal man glanced then to the brown leather book whose pages displayed a person laying down while someone else whispered into his ear. On top of the image the page was titled 'Emissarius Somnus Auditor' in gothic letters.

The Mayor read through some of the pages before skipping down to another page depicting a different image. The contents narrated below it drew a triumphant smirk out of him. It was time consuming and difficult but still doable for a warlock of his skill. He now knew of a way to bring Faith back to him _and_ stop his enemies from ever stealing her again. All he needed now was to send out someone to get her.

He searched the breast pocket of his slate suit and took out a photo he had pilfered from the Watcher's office. In it three teenagers were hugging and smiling to the camera.

They would not be smiling much longer. No siree.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Alright guys, Boss just called!"

A sandy haired vampire entered a spacious warehouse that had been turned into a sort of bachelor pad/ punk hang out. With various clothing garments thrown about the floor; spray painted walls; foosball table; skateboards and roller blades; all items clearly depicting the living space as belonging to young people.

In a large pleather sofa, three youths were sitting down hammering their fingers on to game controllers. The young men's attention was utterly ensnared by the large screen and so they completely ignored the call made by the newly arrived vampire.

"Hey. Hey! Pay attention you idiots!" shouted the vampire.

"Wait. Wait . Wait. In a minute, we're almost done." answered one of them, never taking his eyes off the screen. This deeply annoyed the sandy haired demon.

"Oh fail, Rip! Trey got you there. Jump over him you idiot."

"Shut up man. Still got enough for a combo."

"Give it up. No combo is gonna—dammit!"

"Booyah! And now for the finishing move."

—Zzzzpp—

Before the young man could perform said finishing move, the screen went dead. From behind it, the vampire that had joined them came out with all the plugs on his hand.

"What the—Aw c'mon man. I was gonna beat Trey for once."

"Yeah I wanted to see that happen too."

"Shut up and listen!" yelled the vampire so exasperated that he actually growled. "The Boss, has another job for us."

"So soon? Those pansies must still be crying after we crashed their base." said the young man named Trey.

"Besides it's still early, why is he—"

"We'll be driving the Lincoln in a retrieval mission. A Ctharl demon is going to come with us." explained the vampire.

"That sounds boring man" said the young man. "The last job had us breaking something. And we got goodies out of it too."

"Yeah, that was one sweet job." said Rip, remembering all the stuff he got to break.

"Well this one is even sweeter." The vampire grinned widely. The manner in which he proposed it got the attention of the other youths pretty fast.

"We're going out after the Traitor."

The youths started grinning at the possibilities coursing through their minds and then with a roar all three of them vamped out.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Buffy couldn't concentrate at class. She was a jittery mess. Bouncing her feet, tapping her pencil and checking the classroom window for the venue of Giles' car into the parking lot. After several intervals of looking attentive then taking glances out the window she finally sighted the Watcher's clunky Citroën. She focused intently on the passenger window of the grey car, trying to discern if there was someone there.

"Señorita Summers!"

Buffy jumped up in surprise. The Spanish teacher was looking sternly at her.

"I know you students believe coming here is a waste of time, but if you do not complete all your school hours you may not be eligible for graduation. Not many job prospects out there without a diploma."

"I'm listening Ms. Cruz. Just had…too much soda." Buffy answered then translated with a grin. "Mucho Refresco!"

The teacher beamed in approval and went back to write down some sentences on the blackboard. To Buffy's fortune, the bell didn't take long to ring and within minutes she was making her way outside. She saw Giles walking into the school. Alone.

"Where's Faith?"

The Watcher sighted and ran a hand over his hair.

"I was hoping she'd be here. Angel said she went out to meet us."

"May-maybe she's in the library waiting." she muttered and started power-walking to their usual hang out, Giles following closely at her heels.

When they got to the library they only found Wesley sweeping out some debris. He looked up at their entrance and stopped sweeping.

"Did you find Faith?" he asked with undisguised anxiety.

Both Watcher and Slayer remained silent.

"….You didn't see her on the way here?" Buffy asked softly.

Giles shook his head sadly in answer.

"I'm going looking for her."

"Buffy—"

"No Giles! I don't care! I'm going and that's it."

She only took a few steps out the doors when she heard a commotion by the back entrance of the school where a crowd of students was forming.

-x-x-x-x-x-

-Minutes before-

The delicious smell of warm pastries wafted under her nose, teasing her to open the box in her hands and take a bite. This was usually Xander's job but today she woke up in a good mood. It was such a bright sunny day. She even beat some good money out of Angel at a game of Parcheesi so she thought she might as well share her spoils with the Scoobs. Besides, reading musty old books was an up over sitting through Angel's sob songs. Faith admired many things about him…except his taste in music.

She was rounding the corner to walk the path that led to the back gates of the school when she heard tires squealing. A peek over her shoulder revealed a black sedan with highly tinted windows. Heading straight for her.

Alarmed, she broke into a run, zig-zagging on the street to stop the car from running her over easily. The car followed her movements closely. Then, the front passenger window was slightly lowered and out stuck the barrel of a rifle.

In one of her backward glances she detected it aiming at her and with quick reflexes, she jumped out of the line of fire of a dart. But the move caused her to land in front of the moving car, only having enough time to give a small jump when the car impacted her. The Slayer slammed into its windshield and rolled over the roof and trunk before landing in a heap on the pavement.

Faith rolled on to her back wincing and feeling like a jackhammer had its way with her. The box of donuts she bought was sent flying in the impact and now its contents were splattered all over her and the street. That was such a waste of jelly donuts. In her pain she heard shouts of alarm from the students near the gate.

"Oh my god, someone just got run over."

"Is she dead?"

"No look, she's moving her arms."

"Call for some help!"

"The car is turning around. Maybe they'll help."

Faith weakly raised her head and indeed saw the car making a U turn before accelerating towards her crumpled for.

_Shit! Shit! Shit!_

She was staggering to get up and as the car approached she knew she wasn't going to make it out completely. She threw her body side ways but still felt the wheels of the car trampling over her legs.

Starburst of agony exploded inside her legs and she couldn't help letting out a pain filled scream. The crowd of students started screaming as well. This was no accident, but some kind of murder.

The car stopped not too far and one of the doors opened. A hulking horned demon with huge side burns stepped out. Faith saw the rope in his hands and started frantically crawling away from him. In seconds, the demon loomed over her pathetic form-when a pastel colored blur collided with him and sent him crashing to the pavement.

Buffy was on top of the demon furiously pummeling his clammy face. As soon as the demon was down the car took off in a squeal of tires, abandoning his previous passenger..

The Slayer got in several good shots before the demon pushed her off of him and scrambled up. With a roar, he used the rope as a whip and struck out against the little Slayer. Buffy twisted out of the way of one strike then managed to grab the rope on the second one and tugged the demon over to meet her fist. While he was doubled over from the hit to his gut, she used the rope in her hand to wrap it around his throat. Fending off his scrabbling hands, she tripped his legs and dragged him to a nearby alley. Once hidden in the shadows she flipped him face down and pushed his face on the grimy floor.

"Who sent you?" she demanded.

"…Not…..telling." the demon managed to strain out of his constricted throat.

"It was the Mayor, right? Fancy car gunning for Faith. Dot meet dot."

The demon beneath her tensed and growled in anger which was about all she needed as a response.

"The Slayer…will fight…with us again."

"Wrong. She's staying with me."

Buffy took a good grip on the rope and strangled the life out of him. When the demon's limbs stopped twitching she let out a sight and turned to exit the alleyway. Jogging to where she last saw Faith, she found Giles and Xander by the other Slayer's side helping her stand up. Faith was protesting and battling against them.

"I can get up on my own. Go help Buffy."

"Faith for the last time, you were run over by a car. You need medical attention."

"I don't need no crap hospital." But the way she winced as she tried to move her legs said the contrary. "Okay it hurts, but the Slayer healing is kicking in. I feel better already."

"Tell that to the bone sticking out of you leg" said Xander with a queasy look on his face.

"What?"

The Slayer looked down and saw the strange bloody protuberance winking at her.

"Oh. That." she managed to say before her eyes rolled up and she fell limp against Giles' arms.

"Buffy get my car."

The Slayer caught the keys thrown at her and without a word sped over to the school fence, jumping over it easily like she was a professional gymnast. The crowd of students stepped aside without question while she ran to the school parking lot.

"Buffy!"

Buffy looked over to see Willow and Cordelia following her.

"No time guys, I need to take Faith to the hospital."

"I'll come with you then."

"Sorry Wills, Giles' car isn't exactly space-gifted. Go tell Wesley to meet us there."

With a quick goodbye the Slayer was in the Citroën, gunning it for all its worth.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Buffy, Giles and Xander were sitting around waiting for the operating doctor when Willow and Oz entered the waiting room, followed by Cordelia and Wesley.

"How's Faith?" immediately asked the young Watcher.

"She's got bruised ribs and fractured bones in her left leg, nothing big there. But the car managed to break some in the other leg." Buffy answered. She stood up to look around for the doctor. "They're operating on her now. The doctor said it wasn't going to take long."

"So it's not bad. Good. Uhm do you know who it was, that hurt her?"

"Yup. Questioned an ugly before I broke him. Definitely sent by the Mayor."

"You're sure?" questioned Giles.

"She's gotta be." agreed Cordelia. "A car like that? It screams 'paid by tax dollars'."

"Well then that means the Mayor has made his move. Faith may not be safe here. But we can't take her with us until she's given leave which may take a day or two."

"I'll watch over her." stated Buffy like it was a no-brainer. Seeing Giles about to protest she continued. "Graduation's tomorrow Giles. I'm only missing three classes and a study period. If Snyder makes a fuss about it then he can talk to my mom. Right now, I'm not moving from here."

The middle aged man sighted tiredly and took off his glasses.

"Can't convince you otherwise." he muttered rhetorically.

"No."

"Yes, well… All that's left is to find a way to stop the Mayor before he reaches Faith."

Their discussion didn't get a chance to start as at that moment Faith's doctor, along with some nurses, came out of the operating room rolling a bed between them. Buffy ran to them and saw Faith covered in blankets and shivering madly in the bed.

"What's wrong with her, you said it wasn't bad!"

"Miss, it is just a reaction to the anesthesia. Completely normal. You have nothing to worry about. In fact why don't we go tell your other friends how the operation went while Ms. Lehane gets settled in."

"I sort of wanted to go with her. Can..can I…"

"No, not a problem at all."

Buffy nodded in relief but her attention was diverted back to Faith when the Slayer grasped one of her hands. Faith's grip obliged her to move with the nurses so she waved goodbye to the doctor and her friends and continued along the hallway.

"Hee-ey Bu-bu-beee. You're he-heere." Buffy saw Faith trying to give her a tremulous smile.

"Yep, you're very own guard dog...only without the dog part. Not into slobbering all over you….and not very well phrased."

The nurses didn't look like they caught Buffy's embarrassing slip or they didn't let it show anyway. They worked in harmonious sync prepping up the bed on the service elevator and soon they were going up to where all the stay-in rooms were.

"Naa-ahh, Bu-beee I think I h-had a c-cat. Like…Mu-maww maww."

The funny noises almost made Buffy break into a laugh but she managed to contain herself behind pursed lips.

"Really, a cat? When, in Boston?"

The elevator doors opened and soon the nurses were wheeling the bed down another hallway. Faith had closed her eyes and Buffy thought she had gone to sleep until she spoke again.

"Nuuh…dun-n-noo….ap-pu-part-ment…o-oow."

"Faith, don't strain yourself. Better, go to sleep."

"Ok-kay"

The Slayer actually did as she was told. Maybe Giles should order some of that anesthesia.

They arrived at a three bed room which to her luck was empty of any other patients. The nurses made rapid work of passing Faith's body to the bed inside, hanging up her leg cast and setting up an IV. They then showed Buffy the emergency button in case Faith needed anything in her stay and left in their squeaking tennis shoes. The whole thing took only a minute leaving the blonde Slayer baffled at the nurses' efficiency.

_Maybe Sunnydale gives out a bunch of experience._

Her eyes went back to the sleeping Slayer looking tranquil. She thought back to when she saw her body disappear under the car. Her heart had jumped a beat.

She thought she had lost a friend. A very dear friend. That's what Faith had become to her. Buffy couldn't imagine now how her life would be without her. She had shared laughs with her; worries about her future; her duty as a Slayer; even her deepest pain. The brunette was such an integral part of her life and now someone wanted to take her away.

Buffy would kill them first.

There was a knock on the opened door. Wesley and Giles walked in first. Xander and Cordelia followed behind when they noticed the room didn't have any one else. Noting Willow and Oz's absence the blonde slayer sent a questioning look to her Watcher.

"I've sent Willow to research invulnerability charms on the computer. Oz had to take her to her house since the library's computer met the same fate as the books. We're rather…vulnerable at the moment."

Giles came to stand behind his Slayer while Wesley took a seat across from Buffy. Xander and Cordelia opted to stand awkwardly by the foot of the bed.

"Don't worry Giles, if anyone can find out something, it'd be Willow. Now what did the doctor say?"

"He said it was a clean break. They set it back without a problem. But Faith will need to stay off that leg for a month." explained Giles

"What about with Slayer healing?" asked Buffy.

"That uh, I wouldn't know well to give a definite answer. Perhaps a week? Or two?"

"That's gonna suck" croaked Faith.

All faces turned to the awakened Slayer who was watching them all with bleary eyes. The Slayer made to sit up but winced when she felt her ribs throb in response.

"Faith, you barely slept." The blonde slayer admonished her friend but either way helped fold the bed so Faith could sit up.

"Slept through whenever they put that rock on my leg. Had a weird dream too. For some reason I'm craving Twizzlers."

Buffy jumped off her seat with a smile.

"I could go get you some. There's a vending machine on the second floor."

"It's alright B, you don't have to—"

"Sorry but sick people don't get voting rights. They just get coddled. Be back soon!"

And the blonde shot out of the room before Faith could get a say in. The California blonde could be so random sometimes, but the fact she was happy to please her made Faith feel like she was special to her. And with service like that, maybe this invalid thing wouldn't suck so much. Thinking about her current state made the Slayer turn to the Scoobies to ask what in the world happened to her.

"So, did I stake Don Vito's vamp kid or something?"

"He he. More like you're Connie and the Don wants you back." quipped Xander.

"You're shitting me."

The meaning behind the words left her stumped. Xander just confirmed what she sensed the day the Big Bad came for a visit. Her Other self didn't only work for this guy, she actually played happy families with him. And the guy took his papa bear role quite seriously. If she'd known that night at the docks that Wesley's crazy mojo was going to come with a free stalker baddie, she would have given it a second thought before accepting. This guy wanted her so badly when he clearly knew it was all a lie. She didn't get it.

"I shit you not great mafia princess."

"But he knows, about the mind stuff. That it was all a spell. He can't be that stupid to think I'd go to him anyway. And making pizza out of my legs didn't make me consider it any better."

"Faith…he uh. The Mayor can make you join him." stuttered Wesley.

"What? How?"

"He stole Wesley's journals." answered Giles solemnly. "The details of the mind spell put on you were there. He may um, he may have found a way to put you to sleep…and awaken your Other mind."

"…shit."

"That's great!" said Cordelia in a bright tone. Everyone turned in unison and boggled at the happiness she was exhuming. "What? If Psycho Faith comes back now then we shouldn't even break a sweat. I mean, how hard can it be to take down a useless invalid?"

"…Thank you Cordelia, for so tactfully putting things in perspective." Giles supposed he shouldn't still be surprised by the girl's undeterred honesty.

"That's Cordy for you. Never misses a chance to crush on your pride." And Xander couldn't miss a chance to gripe at Cordelia either.

"It's still a very valid argument. More than you've done" grouched the tall brunette while rolling her eyes at their sensitivity.

"I can still walk you know." muttered Faith in indignation.

"Yes but what Ms. Chase referred to was that perhaps you would be less...agile? The cast is certainly daunting and should we've…should anything happen then apprehending you would be far manageable I believe." said Wesley.

"But that goes both ways too right? Feeble Faith if she goes Hyde is good. But she also makes for a perfect victim for the kidnapping Mafiosi."

"Feeble?" said the Slayer in increasing annoyance.

"Xander's right." Giles paused as an uncomfortable feeling curled in his stomach "I believe those words actually made me ill."

"Ha, see! I said something smart too."

Cordelia sent the smug boy a look that clearly displayed how immature she though he was. Meanwhile, the Slayer was having enough of being thought as some fragile new born. That, and the growing pressure on her bladder thanks to the IV, gave her enough reasons to get her ass off of bed. Dismounting her leg and pulling out her IV, she pushed off her blankets and jumped out off bed.

"Whoa cowgirl, there should be stopping of the horses before you break off more bones."

"Get outta the way, I need to take a piss." she growled at Xander who was blocking her path.

"Moving out." He responded quickly.

Faith hobbled past him and out the door in her search for the bathroom. The hospital robe flapped around her body in her rush causing Wesley to choke in a coughing fit.

"That's a nice moon." said the wide-eyed boy receiving a head slap from both Cordelia and Giles.

Then from the hallway, the four inside the room heard a voice confront the brunette Slayer.

"Faith! What are you doing up? You should be resti-and where the hell are you're pants?"

"With the pervy doctors I assume."

"Then d…don't go walking around until I get you something! Hey, why are you still moving? On your broken leg?"

"I'm taking a piss! God!"

"Then you wait for me to help you! Don't give me that look. What did I tell you about sick people?"

"Fine! Hold my hand why don't you."

Their bickering continued all the way down the hallway until they couldn't be heard over the other hospital noises.

"Maybe not that feeble." pondered Giles out loud.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Sitting inside a car outside the hospital, four vampires discussed the prospects of infiltrating the building.

"We still got a chance. The hospital is public property." commented one of the young vampires.

"Yes but I bet the white hats aren't gonna leaving her side Ricky." added Rip.

"So? We eat whoever's with her. The Traitor won't be much trouble after the job Dafoe did on her legs."

"We don't know that! And I'm not taking any chances here." Willy Dafoe, the sandy-haired leader was much older and thus less impulsive than the rest. "We're lucky the Boss is too busy setting up the welcoming party or he'd be on our asses demanding answers."

"The Boss is already going to be mad because we ran her over. Maybe we should have listened to the Ctharl."

"No Rip, that bitch deserved that and more. Is bad enough we're going to have her lording over us again." Dafoe's hands clenched around the steering wheel as he contained his anger at the prospect. "No, I needed that."

"Well your needs just made our job harder." said Trey.

"I know dammit! We can still do this. We need to take her out of the building without alerting the Slayer at least."

"And how do you plan to take the Traitor from under the Slayer's nose?" asked Trey in uncertainty of the success of such a task.

"I'm thinking." The leader was going over all possible distractions that could be created in a hospital. Most of them would only make the Slayer highly suspicious so they wouldn't work for this job. No they needed to make the Slayer leave the Traitor of her own will. Give her something else to worry about.

"Man, Ricky. If only you weren't such a suck shot then we wouldn't be stuck in this car waiting."

"You try and hit a moving target…in a moving car!"

"That's it. Give me the rifle." ordered the leader.

"Why?" Ricky whined then off his vexed look the youth acquiesced quickly. "Here."

The dark-haired vampire opened up the rifle to take out a dart that was loaded inside. Examining the dart he observed where the capsule with the tranquilizing agent was inserted. Enough to lay down someone for an hour or two.

_This could work._ "Let's roll boys! School will be out for summer soon."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Nothing again. Argh, this is so frustrating. All I've found is what we already know. Invulnerability is like a cheap cheat code. Once you put it on, it's easy pickings and no worries. Short of asking the Mayor to kindly change out of his invulnerable body we got nothing." Willow was laying on her bed surrounded by several opened magical books. Behind her, Oz was searching on the occult magic websites on the Internet.

"I haven't found anything useful either." said Oz while still working the net.

"Ouuh. I can't even be good at what I'm good at."

"…There's a sound argument in there somewhere." Oz spoke though his face displayed some doubt.

"I mean who am I kidding?" the girl continued as if she hadn't heard him "I'm no witch. I can't even change poor Amy back into a person and now Buffy is going to know I failed her and she won't ask my help for magic stuff and then she won't need me anymore, is just gonna be her and Faith slaying. Can you believe she told her about her and Angel first? I didn't find out until after Prom. Even Xander's liking her back again and Giles is all teacher and stuff, is like I'm back to being invisible and I don't matter anymore and—"

"Willow." Oz stopped her gasping rambling by grabbing a hold of her trembling shoulders. The red haired witch looked at her boyfriend with teary eyes. "You matter. A lot."

"I'm a horrible person." she whimpered.

"No you're not. You could never be. You're too sweet. My sweet Willow."

"Oh Oz….it's just….Sometimes I find myself thinking that it was better when Faith was an evil skank. Because then I could hate her with-with Buffy and Xander a-and it wouldn't be wrong to hate her for steali-...But is wrong because she's one of us………I just feel so unloved."

Oz stared at her, concern weighing his brows. He got up from the computer chair to sit besides Willow in her bed. With tender hands he took her face and laid a soft kiss on her lips. Willow responded instantly and after a while she finished the kiss.

"What are you doing?" she whispered breathlessly.

"Loving you." And with another kiss they fell onto the bed, each movement of their bodies becoming more passionate and involved.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Want some more Twizzlers?"

"Ugh no. Don't take it wrong, they're wicked good but they're giving me a headache and I feel all twitchy. I think the stuff in my IV is making me all kinds of sick."

"It's only water aaand calcium it says. So watery milk." Buffy paused, thinking over what she said. "Eww. You're right, it's sick."

"Anything on the research front?" asked the brunette to take her mind off her aching head.

"Willow hasn't called yet so nothing new on the magic department. Mayor's still untouchable." Buffy had a worried expression on her face. Every second they spent without a clue on how to beat the Big Bad was a second more Faith was in danger.

"Don't worry so much B, or you'll wrinkle like troll. You're already short so—"

"Faith!" Buffy slapped the brunette on her arm. "I'm not short. And I can't stop worrying. I'm afraid." The blonde grabbed one of the Boston-born's hands and started tracing the patterns there in. "If he manages to take you….I don't….I don't know what I'd do. You're….I can't lose you."

"B….I won't ever leave you. No matter what. You're the best thing that's happened to me since…ever!" Thinking about how unusually expressive she was being, Faith lowered her eyes in sudden shyness, settling to just look at their intertwined hands. "You can't… understand what being your friend is like. _I_ can't understand it either. I just know that when I'm with you, I feel like nothing can go wrong. Life doesn't suck and I'm not just some weird kid because you're there. You get me. And I get you. When you're happy, I'm happy. And when you're sad I am too. We're like…two sides of the same coin…"

The Slayer trailed off before looking up at Buffy. The blonde's face had an indescribable expression on. Faith broke the silence by laughing nervously and scratching the back of her neck.

"Wow…Don't know where that came from." she said.

"Candy sickness? I've seen some give people a second childhood." said Buffy with a twitchy smile.

"Wasn't that chocolate?"

Just then, Xander appeared in the doorway.

"Checked all the rooms in the hallway, no one suspicious or allergic to sun and I heard talk of chocolate. Are there any around?"

"Nah Xandman, but you can take my Twizzlers."

"Ooh neat." The smiling boy took a seat besides the bed and started munching on the red candies. "So, what are my next orders General Buff?"

"I'm all out of ideas. We just need to protect Faith until the hospital lets her go. Then…I don't know."

"Willow still hasn't called?" Receiving a negative shake, the Zeppo continued. "Well I think weapons wouldn't be bad to have while we're doing the protecting. I could go get some from the library. What's left of them, anyway."

"Oh then bring me that knife, you know the long one with the wicked grip?"

"I think they stole that one." said Buffy.

"Dammit! I liked that knife." cursed Faith with a pout.

"I'll bring you something else. Either way I have to go pick up my fashionable graduation robes. Left them in my locker." With one last bite of a Twizzler, he stood up. "Well ladies, got to go look for a poisonous snake to give me a ride to school. If you're wandering by snake I mean Cordelia."

"We got it." Buffy answered quickly.

The young man nodded an okay and left the room.

"He's in for a sight." commented Faith with a laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"Cordy's with Wes on the second floor. And with the tension there…"

"….EW! So didn't need to know."

"Didn't need to know what?" said Giles as he came in the room. Then thinking it better he shook his head. "No, I believe I don't want to know either."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Willow and Oz laid in bed together, their clothes spread all over the comforter and the floor. The shy witch had a wide eyed breathless look on her face. She couldn't believe they had really done that.

"I feel different. You know? I guess that makes sense. Do you feel different? Oh no, you've already…you probably, not a big change for you, but it's nice…was it nice? Should this be a quiet moment?"

"I know exactly what you mean."

Willow smiled in contentment, then stopped in confusion.

"Which part?"

"Everything feels different."

With an impish smile, Willow turns and starts kissing him. But before things could get steamier they were interrupted by a loud crash outside her house followed by a car alarm.

"That's my van." said Oz while running to her bedroom window. Outside he saw a red jeep had rear ended his parked van, burying most of their front bumper. No one was getting out of the car.

"You think they're hurt?" asked Willow anxiously.

"I don't know. Can't tell much from here."

"Then let's check it out."

The red head started dressing up hurriedly. Oz took another look at the unmoving car before grabbing his pants…and the stake he kept in them.

The two teens came out the door and called out to the driver. They could barely see anything behind the tinted glass of the car. That detail registered in Oz's mind and made him instantly suspicious.

"Willow wait." He held her arm to halt her approach.

Willow made to ask what was wrong when she felt a pinprick on the back of her shoulder. She cried out while Oz twisted to where he sensed the danger come from-and received a dart to the chest.

"Nice catch. But a bit late m'man." said a grinning Ricky from under the small awning of the house.

Oz growled in anger but he could do nothing as he was already feeling the effects of the tranquilizer. Both he and Willow crumbled onto the grass when the doors to the jeep finally opened. The last thing he saw were two smoking blankets coming for them.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"This is extraordinary."

Doctor Patel, Faith's doctor was examining a set of x-rays of the Slayer's leg. Wesley had come back from his patrol of the hospital hallways and was now writing down the facts he remembered about his notes in the stolen journals.

"Not really." said Buffy but the Doctor didn't hear her comment.

"Truly a marvel. The amount of healing on the bone already, no wonder she felt sore. Her muscles were cramping because of calcium deficiency."

"But isn't that what you're giving her?"

"Yes, but her body has absorbed that and more than expected. It's like the healing agents are working double time-maybe triple. They've gathered most of the calcium in her body in order to rapidly heal the break in her leg. Quite a medical wonder."

"Yes doctor. Fascinating. Does that mean Faith can go? Since she's already advanced so much." asked Giles. The sooner they got Faith discharged the sooner they could mount a better defense somewhere else. This building had too many points of entry.

"Oh no, this kind of healing is abnormal and highly unprecedented. I couldn't possibly discharge her without finding out if there was any anomaly I might have missed."

"But I'm feeling great now. All I need is some bags of that calcio stuff and am peaches." protested Faith. She was tired of laying on her ass all day.

"We'll keep you for one day. If nothing else occurs then you'll be able to go. Now if you feel any more cramping you call okay. I'll check up on you later." The doctor sent her a polite smile before taking his leave.

"This is so not cool." said Faith dispirited.

"We must be patient. While we wait we could do some of the meditation exercises." suggested Giles.

"Whooppe, more headaches." muttered Faith.

The Watcher smiled at the rather unenthused Slayer but then a thought crossed his mind, knitting his brows.

"Faith, have you been getting headaches _every_ time we meditate?"

The Slayer thought back on all her sessions before nodding in hesitation. The conversation had caught Wesley's notice as the young Watcher paused in his writings.

"What? Did I screw up?"

"No, I should have noticed. Faith, the headaches could be the aberration we've feared." explained Giles worriedly.

"Is there anything else besides the headaches? Nose bleeding? An image? A sound?" asked Wesley restlessly. The possible outcomes of the headaches distressed him deeply. He had read in the Grimoire some examples of what the residuals of a bad Sleeper spell could do to a mind. The thought that he had made a mistake, and that his magic blunder may be suffered by a charge entrusted upon him by the Watcher's council...his slayer. It was strangling at most.

"I..I don't think so. No. I just've gotten the headaches and they're not that big a deal either. They go away after a minute."

"Excuse me?" A nurse had knocked on the door. She had a folded fuzzy pink sweater on her hands. "A friend of yours left this at the desk, Miss. He said you were missing it."

The nurse laid the sweater on Faith's bed before turning in her white sneakers and walking out.

"That's definitely not mine." said Faith

Buffy stood up and slowly took the sweater in her hands.

"This is Willow's sweater. She was wearing it today." Buffy's voice was tense. She didn't like this.

"Maybe she left it in the waiting room?" proposed Wesley.

But that theory fell when as Buffy unfolded the garment, a note came out from inside. The blonde Slayer picked up the note with stiff fingers and read.

"Nine little piggies hanging like bait. One tumbled off and then there were eight. Been to sc…school lately?" The Slayer looked at her Watcher with wide frighten eyes. "Giles."

"I'll call her house." said the Watcher walking out of the room.

"It must be a ruse. They're trying to get you to go out and leave Faith alone." theorized Wesley.

"Ruse or not, I'm finding out. Willow hasn't called back all day. If they've done something…" The Slayer couldn't finish. Her emotions were going haywire at the thought of Willow coming to harm. She should have called her. Asked what was taking so long.

"Hey don't get all worried yet. We don't know what's happened, I mean Wolfboy was with her and they were alone so maybe…you know."

Giles ran inside with a flustered look.

"No one's answering."

The Slayer dropped on her chair numbed. She knew this was a trap. It couldn't be more obvious even if the Mayor walked in the room and said it. But she couldn't take the luxury of letting it pass by. The life of one of her best friends was hanging on it. Or she hoped it was still hanging. With that terrifying thought she got up off the chair.

"Giles, take me to school."

"You can't possibly be thinking of following up. It is clearly a trap." exclaimed Wesley.

"I know. But they've got Willow." she answered in hard voice.

"You don't know that. Don't you see what's happening? They did this to distract you. To keep you out of the Mayor's way so he could waltz in and take Faith. And it's working. We can't act without first planning a strate—"

"I've got a strategy. I'm going to the school and then I'm getting Willow back."

"That is not—"

"Wes, let her go. I'll be fine. I'm not completely helpless." The Slayer looked intently at the blonde Slayer. "You take Fang then call here when you get to the school. That way we both know if we're alright."

The blonde Slayer nodded at her in gratitude and then both Watcher and Slayer were gone.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Back in the vampire's warehouse the vamp boys were busy preparing for the coming of the Slayer. Furniture was moved, lights were set up, bodies were hanged and traps were laid out. It was time to see what all the hype about the Slayer was about. The phone in the garage rang and Trey went to answer it. In seconds, he came back with a fanged grin twirling a long ax in his hands.

"Willy D says: Hook, Line and Sinker baby! We caught us a Slayer."

Both Ricky and Rip sniggered maliciously. Rip looked at the figures above him while licking his bloody teeth.

"You hear that piggies. If she gets here quick enough no one else becomes dinner."

The vampire was well satisfied by the frightened whimpers he provoked. Soon enough the games would begin.

**-To be continued-**


	5. The turn Pt 2

**Disclaimer**: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox Studios and Joss Whedon respectively. Their use in this fan fiction is purely for pleasure and pays no profits.

**A/N:** Sorry for the constant Chapter updates. The site wouldn't upload the document well.

**-Chp 5: The turn Pt. 2-**

By the time Buffy and Giles arrived at Sunnydale High, most of the students had gone to their respective homes. There were only a few stragglers behind, like those who belonged in clubs or sports teams and strangely some lingering Harmonettes. Seeing nothing abnormal outside and inside the building the Watcher and Slayer duo made their way directly to the library. They were hoping that Xander was still there and his tardiness didn't have anything to do with the threat at hand. It was a long shot.

As they entered what was their base of operations they found it empty until a noise from the Watcher's office diverted their attention.

"Xander?" called out the Slayer.

To her dismay Angel came out of the office carrying a small cardboard and looking confused.

"What's happened? Giles came by the morning asking for Faith and then I haven't heard anything since. Did something happen to her?"

Confronted with his concern, Buffy felt a little guilty for not bothering to inform Angel on the events of the day. It was just that without phones, she would have to have gone to the mansion personally to get Angel in the loop. Not only did that mean leaving Faith alone but being alone with Angel herself.

They hadn't talked much after the dance at Prom. If it weren't for Faith she wouldn't even know he was still in town. Seeing him again, in person, brought out the pain she felt that horrible night.

"Angel." she said softly before composing herself. "Faith's okay, well most of her. Problem is that the people that were after her got Willow and I think Xander too."

"They must have Cordelia as well." he said as he raised the cardboard to show a crudely drawn map with a small bloody earring pinned over a small square. The words 'Invitation only.' were written under it. "It's one of hers. I've seen them."

"Wait, you recognize _her_ jewelry?" Buffy asked feeling weird sparks of jealousy.

But the flustered vampire was saved from answering such a question when Giles leaned forward to peer at the map.

"Beaumont street." he read. "I think I know where that might be. There are two warehouses and a vacant factory in that sector. If the earring marks our destination then I'd say it's the southernmost warehouse."

"Pack me some weapons Giles. I'm calling Faith to fill her in."

Soon the group of three was riding purposely to Sunnydale's southern edge. Buffy explained to Angel in detail the happenings of the day, from the car attack to the note in Willow's sweater. They already figured four of the 'piggies' mentioned in it were their friends and hoped fervently neither one of them was the one alluded death. The sun had already set when the Citroën made it into the parking strip by the warehouses.

Near one of the warehouses there were two cars parked. One of them was Oz's van. The trio jogged over to the car, noticing the damages to its rear.

"That confirms Oz." said Buffy then looked over the huge building for an entrance. By one corner she found a door with a Sunnydale Hogs Jersey nailed to it. Spray painted into it was the word 'Start'.

"I'll look for another entrance." said Angel vanishing into the growing shadows.

Buffy nodded then grabbed some stakes and a sword while Giles armed himself with a crossbow. The Slayer took an impulse and with a strong kick she blew open the door. When nothing else happened, she and Giles stepped over the threshold and into the darkness inside. Buffy heard a small beep and turned around in time to see a barred gate slid in and block their entrance. Then multiple colored lights came on illuminating the hallway they were in. The words 'Game on' were repeated all around the walls.

"Wow, they really went all out." said Buffy astounded.

Giles approached the walls and ran a finger over one of the painted phrases.

"Some are in blood." He shared somberly.

"And suddenly it doesn't amuse."

A mocking giggle resounded in the hallway from unseen speakers arresting the duo on their feet.

"Can you blame us? We're playing the Slayer! It's like a boss battle, yeah?"

"Where are my friends?"

"Uh uh uh, the prize is always at the end of the level. Everybody knows that! Now if you'll just go down the creepy hallway we might get on with the fun." The voice laughed one last time before the sound of the speakers turning off assured them it had finished taunting them.

"I don't like this." Giles was gripping the crossbow and aiming it at the darkness. It was too thick to see the end of the hallway. His eyes couldn't discern anything past the multicolored lights.

The Slayer agreed in her mind. She was too busy darting her eyes about to capture any sudden movements while they cautiously walked down the hallway. As they approached the end they spotted a figure standing by the only exit. Instantly alert, Giles aimed quickly to the heart.

"We see you. Come out or you're dead." warned Buffy but the silhouette remained silent. She took a step and distinguished long blonde hair and a chic red stained shirt. It was a girl…a hook on her back holding her in place.

The Slayer went to grab the person and the movement provoked their gruesomely torn neck to flop back and reveal her face.

"It's Harmony." Already she lost a life and she hadn't even met the enemy.

"She's the one they killed."

Buffy nodded morosely feeling guilty at the relief the discovery made her feel. She dislodged the cold body and laid her on the floor to try and appease some of the traitorous feeling. With one last look at her unmoving body the duo continued on to the room Harmony's body had been blocking, making sure no uglies were hiding by the sides of the door.

The chamber was unexpectedly bland and bare with only a small table in the middle of it, and containing none of the theatrics that guided them there. The floor inside was dirty with cement dust and sand. Each step they took covered their feet in a grey dust cloud. There were two doors but one of them had nailed planks blocking it. Above it Buffy saw the end of an air shaft that crossed the ceiling and opened by the threshold they came from. It might be used as a point of entry instead of the obvious choice they wanted her to use.

Diverting her gaze back to the only furniture in the room, both she and Giles started approaching the small table. On top of it there were some familiar sneakers that Buffy was sure belonged to Xander and another note reading 'Take off your shoes and weapons'. It wasn't until they were a foot away from the table that she perceived the danger. She shouted a warning to her Watcher but it was too late. From the dusty floor a rope trap laid hidden until Giles took a step inside its noose. His foot was yanked backwards making him slam face first into the floor. Amidst his coughing and spluttering Buffy made to grab a hold of him but he quickly slid away and got swallowed into the air shaft before she could help him. She heard the clanking sounds of his body hitting the walls of the shaft above her until he got dragged out of the room.

"No! Giles!"

"Sorry Slayer, this is a one player game only. But I'm impressed. My bro Ricky thought you'd fall for that one, but you didn't! Like having a third eye. We got it too, but not as good which sucks."

"Why don't you cowards stop with the 'trick or treat' and fight! If you're so set in having this epic battle, then stop using my friends and step out!"

"The battle be coming Slayer, but you know how before any good boss fight you get a bunch of power ups?" said the voice through some speakers again.

_No. _thought the Slayer sardonically.

"Well since _we_ are the bad guys, we're changing the rules so instead _you_ get to power down. Now kindly follow the note and gives us a little strip show." sniggered the voice.

The Slayer couldn't believe they expected her to walk into their lair all helpless. But the lives of Giles and her friends were on the line so she would have to take the enormous risk of doing as told. She only hoped Angel actually managed to find another entrance and that it wasn't booby trapped. With a furious glare at the stupid note she started disarming herself of the various stakes she had tucked inside her clothing and the large sword in her hands.

"The shoes sweetheart." added the voice when she had remained standing.

"Seriously?"

"Don't want to track in the dust." But the satirizing tone behind the words told Buffy there was something more to it.

After taking off her stylish boots which she hoped to see again, the unblocked door opened up by itself.

_I think there's a spider and fly analogy about this._

Walking gingerly to avoid stepping on sharp rocks, the Slayer stepped outside the dusty room ….and into some psychedelic playground.

She was in the main area of the warehouse and it was pitch black except for many objects glowing in neon colors. Amongst them there were ramps, railings and two small cages on opposite sides of the room. She could hear crying from somewhere above her but couldn't tell from what because of the murky blackness.

As she took some more steps inside, spot lights came on and she couldn't stop the gasp of horror that escaped her. Hanging from the ceiling three stories high were 9 bodies, the spot lights defining their inert figures. She identified Giles, Willow and Xander's form quickly. The two teens' bodies were doubled over hanging by their waist with their hands tied behind them. The Watcher was in a more uncomfortable position as he hung upside down from one of his legs. A deeper look around revealed the other victims as Cordelia, Oz, Percy, Jonathan, ex-demon Anya, and Larry. They were all spread around the room hanging from pulleys with Larry and Giles being the closest to her position. But before she could plan on getting them down, a blue light shined on top of her and she heard her name cried out loud by several of her hanging friends.

Two mocking laughs rang at their cries for help, causing Buffy to find their two creators sitting on the banister of some third level that circled the main room. From what she could tell with the spot light's illumination they looked like teen delinquents, with their baggie clothes polka dotted in glowing orange and red. She would even have guessed them as students if it wasn't for Harmony's dead body. The orange teen was making a show of tugging the ropes tied to the railings near him causing his hanging victims to scream in fright as they shook in their bindings.

Buffy was looking for a way to climb over to them when another figure jumped from somewhere above her and landed a couple of feet away. It was some red haired punk with a burlesque mask covering half his face. His clothes were speckled with neon yellow defining his figure in the shadows around.

"Well, well, well! What have we here? Buffy Summers, huh?" It was then she noticed he had roller blades on as he rolled towards her to get a better look. "Ooooh, I'm really scared. _You're_ the one everybody's talking about?"

Though his voice was mocking it didn't sound like the guy that had been taunting her on the speakers.

"In the flesh. Now that you've got me here why don't you let them go. I'll promise to stay and hit you."

"Really, well okay." And with a hand signal the orange delinquent cheered, then there was a snapping sound and Larry's body was dropping fast. With a cry of alarm Buffy ran to catch him but stabbing pains in her feet slowed her rescue and Larry's screaming body slammed on the ground in front of her. She crouched and turned him over. His flopping neck and blank eyes revealed her failure.

"Why? Your fight was with me!" she cried angrily.

"Then you shouldn't have asked for it. If you had shut up and listened to the rules then you wouldn't be already handicapped."

She looked down at her feet which were bleeding heavily through her socks. There were pieces of glass embedded on the sole and with a look around she confirmed that she and Larry's body were surrounded by fragments of broken beer bottles. Holding her breath, she picked out each shard stuck in her as fast as she could.

"Now Slayer, I'll tell you how's it going to be. We got eight meat bags which sadly are still alive. And don't go playing hero or you'll find nice surprises like the ones you stepped on. If you want them safe and sound then you'll need to play for them. You win, we give you your prize but lose and….well you know, we don't mind them a little tenderized….what say you?"

Buffy stood up swallowing down the pain of putting pressure in her feet. She glared at the grinning vampire debating in her mind if it was right to barter with the life of her friends.

"….What's the game?" she finally asked.

"Alright! Now we're talking!"

The spiky haired punk skated to some lump on the floor which he picked up and threw at her feet with a clatter. The spot light aimed at her revealed the objects as a pair of skates and a metal hockey stick.

"See, I'm more of a sports gamer so grab the skates Slayer 'cause we're gonna grind some wheels. Game is Dirt Hockey. Pretty simple. Two cages, one biscuit. Anything goes."

Buffy picked up the heavy stick and skates which she carefully pulled on, wincing in pain every now and then. After finishing she looked up to where the punk had been and received a blast of a blue liquid that drenched most of her body and hockey stick. Spluttering in surprise she peered down to see she was now a glowing moving spatter.

"So sorry." cackled the punk vamp without an ounce of honesty. "We want our audience to enjoy the game too." and with a barking laugh, set off towards one of the glowing rails which he jumped over easily doing a quick pirouette in the air before landing. The boy picked up some glowing disk and started bouncing it around with the hockey stick.

"I'll bet you one human life!" The punk shouted then looked around for his would be victim.

Buffy could hear Xander praying 'Not me' repeatedly.

"Don't take Xander!" suddenly hollered the hanging Anya. "I'm strangely invested on the continuation of his life."

"Which one is Xander?" the vamp asked sinisterly.

"Anya!" cried Willow from the other side of the room.

"What? I was trying to save his life."

"Shut up or I'll pick you!"

That silenced everyone. It seemed as if the punk wanted to search out which victim was Xander before changing his mind and pointing his glowing arm to the hanging Jonathan. The boy whimpered in fear at the thought. He didn't want to end up like Larry did.

"We're starting small to let you get the hang of it."

To Buffy, Jonathan's life was no small prize. Now that she was literally playing with a life she needed to give her all. She could do this. It would be like ice skating only with wheels and a stick. She skated down into the playing field which she found was like some variant of a roller derby oval. Making her way to stand before the yellow teen, the boy dropped the disk in between them.

"Players ready!" shouted the orange boy. "Aaand go!"

The puck vanished so fast Buffy thought it was magic. But then the vampire punk past her by and she was on the defensive. It was clear to her he thought high of himself as instead of going straight for the goal he took the long route, jumping over rails while showing off with the puck. Buffy didn't want to risk falling on her ass so instead skated rapidly over a ramp to catch up. Her brief flight landed her behind the punk and using a quick hooking move with her stick, she made the vampire trip and crash on the floor.

"Anything goes right?" she said bubbly to his downed form before flying off with the small disk.

With a roar the vampire was up and after her but since she didn't need to boast her skills she made it to her cage where she slammed in a goal. Her hanging friends cheered her victory and even the other punks were laughing at their partner.

"What was that Rip? I thought you said you were going to trash her." mockingly hollered the red glowing one. This one was the speakers' voice.

"Shut up Trey! I gave her a freebie!"

"Right well the freebie cost us a blood bag. Slayer, I'm dropping him in five."

Buffy dumped her stick and skated fast to Jonathan's location. As she expected it, the dirty vamp cut the rope on three but she was on time anyway. Catching the small boy's body caused her to slip on her skates and fall backward over a few glass shards. She ignored the pain to assure herself the boy was alive.

"T-t-thank y-you." he said trembling because of the recent fright.

"I'm the Class Protector and you're part of the class. Pretty much tells itself." She comforted him with a smile before snapping off the rope around him.

"Stay where I can see you." she ordered before skating back into the ring, brushing off the glass stuck to her leather jacket.

"Whoopie." interjected Rip the vampire while clapping unenthusiastically. "You won one. The gnome couldn't have much blood in him anyway. What say we up the stakes? Best of three for _two_ humans. The geezer-" he pointed to Giles who worryingly was barely conscious "-and the mouthy chick."

"Why me? Willow talked too!" cried Anya.

The vamp ignored her and continued. "And to make the game more interesting we're gonna have a time limit. Ricky!"

Orange glow vamp started spilling something on the ends of both Anya's and Giles's ropes. He then flipped off a lighter and soon both endings were on fire.

"What are you doing?"

"Setting up the timer." answered Rip. "Those ropes are good but they ain't gonna last more than one minute so I suggest you play fast."

Pressured, she skated fast into position and with a "Go!" from the viewing vampires, they were both off. The yellow vampire was more aggressive and less of a show off this time. She had gotten the puck from the start but was almost tackled to the ground. She managed to regain her balance but Rip had already stolen the puck. Skating furiously behind him she succeeded in rounding around him and intercepting him from the front. The vampire had to twist and change his route immediately to avoid her steal. He ran to the other side and scooping the puck with a twirl of his stick, he fired the little disk towards the cage. But before he could score, Buffy appeared by the cage and with a swing, the puck was batted aside to her side of the court. The Slayer was following agilely on its trail when her danger sense flared up and a piercing pain on her thigh made her drop violently on the floor.

The hanging Willow and Xander cried out at the sudden fall of her blue glowing self. From their position they couldn't see well what happened. But Buffy could. Checking her thigh she discovered there was a throwing knife, one of her stolen ones, buried to the hilt. She took it out in time to see the vamp score on his cage. He skated back with a grin to prepare for the last play.

"Tick tock Slayer."

A look at her friends burning ropes told her she had 25 seconds tops. She needed to win this and still have time to catch them when they fell. It sounded despairingly impossible.

With another shout the last play started and after stealing the puck from Rip she was doing her best to keep it. The injured leg kept her from being fast enough to take the sides of the ring. Instead, she decided to glide in between the many rails decorating the middle of the field to protect from being tackled. But to her distress the yellow vampire jumped and grinded his skates on top off the rails and with a somersault landed in front of her passage. She didn't have the space to change directions which left her vulnerable to a slap in the face by his metal stick. The hit left her floored enough to have the small disc taken from her.

As she composed herself, she made to pursue but found that even if she took the puck back, she wouldn't have time to score _and_ also save her friends. Making a decision she changed routes and skated with all her might towards one of the steeper ramps. When Rip called out his victory she was already sailing in the air and grabbing on to Giles. She used the momentum of her move to swing them around on the burning rope which snapped under the pressure. But Buffy had already gotten them moving in the direction she wanted. As Anya's rope snapped off, Buffy and Giles intercepted the screaming girl's fall, colliding in the air before landing in a messy huddle well away from the circle of glass under Anya's position.

"Ow, ow. I almost died like a mortal! What kind of rescue was that?" complained Anya as she disentangled herself from the Watcher and Slayer.

"The kind that got you out alive, thank you very much."

_The nerve of that girl._ Buffy thought while checking up on Giles. He was a little disoriented but now that he was no longer upside down she believed he would recover.

"Slayer!" screamed Rip enraged. "You cheated!"

"And I feel so bad because of it." she answered unconvincingly, occupying herself in freeing Anya and Giles.

"You will. Cheating costs you a penalty."

A rope was cut off and before she could even think about doing something, Percy West screamed all the way down to his death. Buffy was petrified as a wave guilt washed over her. She had yet again caused the death of someone. Someone she knew even.

"Count yourself lucky that it was only one." said the red vampire who had cut off Percy's rope. He leapt from his high position to land besides the yellow Rip. In his hands, he was swinging around her priced ax. "I need bodies to play with too."

"I haven't finished with her Trey."

"Well too bad. It's my turn now." he said before pushing Yellow out of the field. "Sport games are for sissies anyway. Now for me, combat is king. Ricky is going to light up two more and I tell you, you run off on our fight-"he then hefted the ax onto his shoulder "-and you get this baby stuck in your pretty little back."

Grimly, the Slayer took off her skates and marched down to the court to meet her new opponent. This vampire wasn't wearing a mask so she could undoubtedly distinguish his game face. While she could easily take out one lone vamp, at the moment she was unarmed and injured while the enemy was armed with a deadly weapon and refreshed. The odds weren't good for her.

"Ready Slayer?" but he didn't wait for an answer before he sent out a signal. Vampire Ricky ran to where Cordelia's and Oz's ropes were tied up and lighted up the endings.

"Oz! No!" came Willow's worried scream.

"Oh nonononono. I don't want to die so horribly. I haven't even been on T.V.!"

Buffy concentrated on ignoring everything but the fight. After the fire started, the red vampire commenced the bout by advancing in a flash. The Slayer leapt aside of a side swing of the ax but couldn't dodge the handle coming back and smashing under her chin. She stumbled away almost falling in her hands but succeeding in keeping her balance. Three seconds in the fight and already she was seeing double. This wasn't good. She needed something to defend against the ax's strokes.

"Toasty! Down so soon? Your title is way overrated then."

The red vampire came at her again with ferocious energy, swinging around the ax so fast ducking and jumping back was all Buffy could do against him. The small Slayer tried to gain some distance only to trip backwards over one of the rails.

Trey was on her fast pitching the ax with a downward stroke but Buffy kicked it aside before delivering a fist to his chest. The force of the attack made him back away and gave her time to put some space between them. She surveyed her surroundings relieved to notice the yellow vampire watching the fight well away from the three rescued victims. Then her eyes landed on a long blue spatter. It was her hockey stick. The thing was made of metal so it couldn't be used as a stake but it could serve her as defense against the ax.

Running to the downed instrument she picked it up just in time to turn around and parry another downward ax stroke. She enjoyed the surprise reflected on the vamp's face. With her hands occupied holding the ax at bay, she used her legs to kick Trey right in his groin. Taking advantage of his now weak grip she twisted her weapon to dislodge the ax and made him drop it. The red vampire was now disarmed and so she smirked victoriously preparing herself to beat him good with the hockey stick—when a knife stabbed into her right arm distracting her with its sudden pain. Trey used the moment to viciously backhand her to the floor.

"Rip, stay the fuck out of my fight!" he ordered, angered at the other vampire's interference.

"She was gonna take your head off you idiot!"

"Stupid, she ain't coming near m—" and suddenly he was headless, then dust, revealing Buffy with the ax.

"Fuck! Trey!" cried Yellow in disbelief.

But Buffy took no mind of him as she took the knife in her arm and launched it straight into the eye of the orange vampire before he could cut down her friends. The vampire stumbled back and screamed as he clutched his bleeding face.

_I still have time._

Then Buffy was running to the walls near where Oz was hanging.

_I still have time. _

Her intentions were to get to where their ropes were tied.

_I still have time._

She managed to reach the second floor's banister when she heard the ropes snap. She was out of time.

…_I'm sorry Cordelia._

Hearing Cordelia screaming hysterically, Buffy jumped kicked from the wall to catch Oz's falling body. While in the air she turned her body to protect Oz from their imminent crash.

And then there wasn't just pain. There was a lot.

Both she and Oz had smashed on to one of the goal cages, their bodies, mostly Buffy's, making a deep indentation on its metal skeleton. They both remained still in their throes, Buffy mourning dimly the fact that she couldn't hear Cordelia anymore.

"What the fuck is this? No, fuck no! You ain't killing me!" she heard Yellow screaming.

Buffy heard the vampire approaching fast but her throbbing body along with Oz's weight on her prevented the Slayer from doing anything about it. So she couldn't stop him from lifting her up and slamming her face down on the ground. Then he was on top of her and there was a knife on her neck. The blonde tried to buck him off but he just stepped on her injured leg, making her cry out in agony.

"Back up pretty boy, or I slice her!"

_Who is he talking too?_ She thought sluggishly. When the stars disappeared from her sight she saw who, and it took her breath away in sheer relief.

Angel was standing some feet away, Cordelia clinging to his form while he carried her.

"I said back off! If you don't move the hell away I swear I'll chop her head off!"

Angel glared but did as Rip said taking a few steps back while letting Cordelia down. The girl still clung to him and seemed dazed, as if she hadn't yet believed she survived.

"No, go back further."

"You think I'm stupid. You'll kill her." answered Angel.

"I said go back further!" and Buffy yelped as she felt the knife piercing skin.

The blonde's hiss of pain made Angel move fast and away from the dim lights that illuminated the hockey court, almost reaching the door she came through.

"Alright Ricky, cut down the redhead."

"No!" Buffy and Xander cried almost unanimously.

She struggled furiously against Rip's grip to no avail as the vampire held fast. She saw Angel running to catch the witch but he was too far away. He wouldn't make it.

_Not Willow Not Willow._

The angry orange vampire was already sawing off the rope—and then unexpectedly bursting into a dust cloud. Buffy couldn't analyze the occurrence further as Willow's rope broke from its knot and she was crying Willow's name.

A shadow jumped over the third floor banister and caught the slipping rope. The redhead, who had only fallen a small distance, was abruptly jarred to a stop.

"What the hell?" whispered Rip. He couldn't believe his eyes. Now instead of two people hanging, there were three.

"Fuck, that burns!" cried the third person as she hung from the end of Willow's rope. The only thing keeping the witch from falling was the counterbalancing weight of the third person who Buffy noticed had a white cast over one dangling leg.

"Faith?" said Buffy.

"I'm sorry B! I was bored and Wes started telling jokes!"

"What is this, a convention? Where the fuck do you people keep com—" Buffy felt Yellow's weight disappear. One look over her shoulder revealed Oz with an outstretched stake.

"They shouldaf checked m'pockets." said Oz stoically before moving to help Willow but falling down after a couple of steps.

"Oz!" cried the witch in worry. Buffy went to check on him and found him still conscious.

"S'okay, I'm just dizzy. Help Willow."

The Slayer nodded and ran to where Angel and all the others had congregated under Willow and Faith.

"Hi B. Nice look. You rebellin'?"

"I can't believe you." said Buffy looking up with a hard stare. "Get down. Now!"

"Uh, kind of hard because if I do, Red goes splat…and I kind of do too."

"I don't like the splat part Buffy." said the scared redhead.

"I'll get Willow." said Angel. He went to the nearest wall to climb over to the first floor where he braced himself against its banister. "Okay Faith, you can let go."

As soon as the brunette released her grip, both she and Willow started falling. Angel jumped and intercepted Willow while Faith fell onto Buffy's waiting arms. The Boston Slayer's sudden weight made the tiny blonde fall to her knees with her load.

"Ah Jesus! You're not as soft as you look." said a wincing Faith as she tried to squirm away from the bony blonde, but the small Californian didn't let her go far.

"You!" she started in a menacing tone. Faith gulped. "I leave you safe at the hospital—"

"C'mon B, I wasn't going to stay—" blonde ignored her and continued on her tirade.

"—but you never listen like always!—"

"I listen someti—"

"—you come and put yourself in danger!—"

"You were in danger too!"

"—Jump around with a broken leg!—"

"Hey it was do or die."

"—a-and save Willow."

Before Faith knew it she found herself strongly embraced by the little blonde.

"…I thought I was losing her."

"So…uh…you're not mad?" Faith said to the hugging blonde who finished her embrace to watch her with a trembling smile.

"Mad? I could kiss you!"

Faith's eyes widened before looking at the blonde in amusement. But she didn't get the chance to pick fun at the girl as a loud 'hey' called their attention to the last hanging victim.

"While I wouldn't mind seeing that, I'd still like to get down." said Xander. "Sometime soon."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Once they got Xander down, Angel offered to stay behind to take care of the dead while Buffy took the survivors back the way she came from. She found it strange that on the way out they didn't come across Harmony's body but gave it no further thought as she was too tired to give chase to whatever baddie took it. Deciding to take Oz's van the group was surprised to see Wesley waiting around outside, armed with one measly stake. As they came into view he jumped in fright and raised his stake to attack.

"Smooth Wes, but is just us." said Faith.

"Oh thank heavens. You were taking so long going around—and you went and broke your cast." he finished aghast.

"Fell off from three stories."

"What?"

"Don't worry Wesley. We're taking her back to the Hospital." explained Buffy.

"Damn, do you have to?" complained the brunette.

"Yes I have to, and don't give me that look because I'm going too and so is everyone else." her command leaving no place for argument.

Soon they were all en route to the Hospital much to the chagrin of Faith. As Wesley and a still shaken Cordelia parked the van, the others arrived into the lobby making quite a spectacle, all bleeding and dirty as if they came from a war. In short order the more bruised Jonathan, Anya, Oz and Giles were being taken away by nurses, with Buffy refusing to be taken with them.

"B, weren't you the one that suggested going here? You look like shit so what are you waiting for?"

"I'll go once I make sure they've taken your slippery ass with them."

"C'mon really, my leg is throbbing like hell. As if I'm going to run off like that."

"Wouldn't put it past you." said the blonde before sighting a harried looking nurse clacking his feet towards them. "And here is your parole officer. Lucky you he doesn't look half bad."

The nurse's hurried steps almost made his black Oxfords slid on the floor as he reached them.

"You Ms. Lehane! Doctor Patel has been looking all over for you. Where were you?"

"Got lost looking for the soda machine?"

The nurse raised his brow in clear disbelief before noticing the broken cast.

"You broke it? How? Oh no that just won't do. I'm sorry miss but I need to take this patient to get casted again."

"She's all yours." Buffy answered with a smile while the nurse led the protesting Slayer into a wheelchair.

"Don't think I won't forget this B." Faith grouched as she was being wheeled away "This is treason. I'm not gonna talk to you until you get me some candy!"

The complaining brunette disappeared down a hallway and Buffy left herself drop into one of the lobby's chair.

"That was quite a night Buff, huh." commented Xander as he took a seat besides her. Willow who was looking pensive sat down besides the boy.

"Yeah." Buffy said softly before suddenly throwing herself at them and engulfing them in her arms. "I'm so glad you guys are okay."

"We're glad too." answered Xander while patting her softly in the back. Then he noticed the dried blood in it. "But _you're_ not that okay, why don't you go with one of the nice nurses? I don't see Louise Fletcher around."

After giving them another squeeze, Buffy nodded in acquiescence and looked to where all the nurses were moving patients along.

"Figures Faith takes the only good looking one. I mean those tennis shoes are horrible and….and they're all…wearing them."

Suddenly she's up, like a bolt went through her.

"Oh my god."

"Buffy?" asked Willow at her suddenness. The blonde looked at her with a horror filled expression.

"He wasn't wearing them."

"What?" The redhead was confused.

"Buff, your not making any sense. You're sure you didn't land on your head?"

But Buffy didn't stay to answer them. She was off like a flash running down the hallway she last saw Faith disappear in. There were many nurses and patients spread along the way, some of the nurses seeing her dirty painted self and making a move to stop her. But she dodged them agilely and kept on running, rounding off a curve to where she saw an exit at the end of the hallway. There, besides the door, was an empty wheelchair.

_No No No No No No  
_

She blasted right through the doors in time to see a black sedan peeling out of the small parking lot. The Slayer ran desperately after it. She ran until she couldn't see its tail lights anymore.

Stopping, Buffy fell to her knees in hopeless defeat. She failed.

**-To be concluded-**


	6. Betting on the river Pt 1

**Disclaimer**: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox Studios and Joss Whedon respectively. Their use in this fan fiction is purely for pleasure and pays no profits.

**Ryuu: **It is definitely a Book One out of X number thing. And don't worry about the fuffyness. I know I'm taking my sweet time torturing the readers but I just want to build it up properly. If you're sneaky you'll see the small and the big hints pointing towards it. Oh and you'll also get your Tara/Willow in book two. Hope that makes you happy. And about Willow, she's behaving as she would be should something like this happen. It is not that she's purposely being a bitch. Remember that Willow felt pretty threatened by Faith's presence in the group, thinking she was replacing her as Buffy's bff and it didn't help Xander was hugely attracted to Faith which meant she also had the attention of her other best friend. The poor girl cried in a toilet! I just didn't want to make her be okay with it quickly when she clearly had issues, hence the Oz Willow scene. Don't worry no more bitchy Willow now.

**Ivy Tamwood: **Glad you like the game scene. I slid in a few references to game genre. I also hoped the Hockey part was believable and understandable as I had to research it for a while to get it right. Never seen a game that didn't have the Mighty Ducks in it hehe.

**A/N: **Yet again the chapter got too long and I had to chop it in half. At least you won't have to wait long to know what happened. Also, brownie points to those who decipher all the subtext in the dream sequence. Took me a while to get just right in a whedonesque style.

**-Chp 6: Betting on the river Pt. 1-**

Buffy grabbed the box of chocolate chips and carefully poured them on the doughy contents of the mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon she took her time slowly stirring the ingredients on the bowl, her movements those of someone who took great care in the best completion of a task. After the mix was finished, she picked small clumps out of it and started placing them evenly on to one of the four baking sheets on the counter.

"Those look nice."

Buffy looked up from her work to see Faith enter the kitchen and come to stand besides her to watch.

"They got to be. Everyone wants some." the blonde answered.

She had filled two sheets and was going on for the third when she noticed the bowl was empty. Frowning at the thought of not having enough but deciding there wasn't anything she could do about it, the blonde made to put away the other sheets when a hand stopped hers.

"Don't. I made some too." said Faith.

She gave Buffy a bowl filled with soft dough and the blonde smiled in gratitude.

Both girls worked in the pleasant silence, their coordinated harmony completing the job faster.

"I think I've seen something." said Faith as she slid in the last of the sheets into the oven. "Not besides flowers, but…in gardens of death."

The Boston girl frowned then murmured "It dares not speak its name."

"What doesn't? I don't understand. How do I fight it?"

"You can't. You can….you'll want?" The brunette said the last in confusion.

"I don't know. I'm a little lost here. Want to give me a tip?"

"I can't. Too much sugar in my brain."

"Is that why you keep asking me for candy?" the blonde smiled amused. She then went to set up the cooking timer in the oven.

"Maybe…That's wrong." Faith stopped the blonde in her task erasing the set time of 7:30 and inputting another. "It should be longer."

"Are you sure?"

The brunette only smiled and grabbed Buffy's hand to pull her with her out of the room. They were now in a grassy cliff overlooking a small calm beach. It was dark but the horizon had an orange tinge announcing the coming sunrise. As both slayers ran towards the edge, Buffy leaned down to run her fingers over the lively green grass.

"Feels different, right?" asked Faith as she sat at the edge.

"I've known. Just forgot." The blonde took a seat besides her friend and gazed at the bright horizon. "Will you watch it with me?"

When the other girl didn't answer Buffy turned to look and found a gray faced Larry staring back.

"You fear it." said the boy, maggots squirming inside his skin. "Do you dare disturb the universe?"

"Where's Faith?" she questioned fearfully.

"You don't know where she is." answered another voice behind her. The Slayer whirled around to find Percy looking away from her. "But you'll know where she'll be."

The Slayer followed his gaze to a dark cemetery and filled with panic, she ran to the tomb filled space. Anguish raised on her when her various calls for Faith went unanswered. There weren't any signs of life around until she heard a grunt. She turned sharply and hunching besides an old grave was Faith. The blonde Slayer called to her in relief but when she spun the brunette to face her she was gripped by cold horror yet again. The Boston Slayer was bleeding black from her eyes which were themselves onyx marbles.

"What are you doing to me?" Faith snarled at her hatefully. She grabbed the blonde's shoulders and shook her savagely. "What are you doing to me?"

"You've made me a liar!"

Buffy woke up with a kick of her feet. Her wide eyes took in her room around her while her rapidly beating heart pacified itself. That had surely been a Slayer dream, and she needed to tell Giles.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Okay Giles I've got one for you."

Buffy marched into the library determined to get on the dream and research it until they found what Faith had tried to tell her.

"Tell me all abou-…what are you guys doing?"

Willow was dressed in her burgundy graduation robes while helping Xander, who was fussing with his hair, zip up his. From the office, Giles peered out, one hand fixing up the collar of his best suit. They had all paused in their activities as soon as she came in.

"Buffy! You're here…and not wearing robes." said Willow.

"Of course I'm not wearing them. Are you guys seriously going to graduation?"

"Uh yes, seeing as it wouldn't matter." answered Xander.

"Wouldn't matter? Faith is out there being brainwashed by the Mayor and you say it doesn't matter?"

"What? No, Buffy! I meant-..you didn't hear? Well of course you didn't seeing as your all with the frowns and the righteous anger-"

"Xander! Hear what?" she said exasperated.

"Guess who our commencement speaker is?"

"Is not Siegfried" added the witch then continued in a disappointed voice "…though I wish it would have been."

There was a beat as Buffy processed their words and the unbelievable meaning behind it.

"…I don't believe this. The Mayor at graduation? Why?"

Giles cleared his voice as he prepared to explain.

"We believe he might have planned this for the Ascension, seeing as attending graduation would have given him a plethora of helpless victims to um feast on when he uh ascended into his new demonic self."

"Yeah, but we ruined that weeks ago. He's had time to cancel." objected Buffy.

"Yes, well, perhaps. But he went after Faith next, who was quite liable to be here today."

"…she was." she whispered sadly. Giles words sent Buffy on another bout of melancholy. This was supposed to be a happy day. Freed from school, the Scoobies all planned on letting go at the beach. Buffy even took Faith shopping for bathing suits seeing as the Boston born hadn't ever known the pleasures of a warm sandy coast. And now all that was shot to hell and Buffy was back to being looked at to solve everything… alone.

"Xander! I've found some of that strange concoction that makes your hair much more pleasant looking." Into the library barged in Anya, her maroon robes covering most of the bruises she acquired on last night's adventure. The girl promptly made her way to Xander much to Willow's displeasure, and pushed a bottle of hair gel into the surprised boy's hands.

"It took me longer than I expected to haggle for a good bargain. Now this kingdom of yours, is not in Sweden right?"

"Hehe.. Anya…thanks but uh, didn't think you'd take the 'My kingdom for some gel' comment so seriously."

"Why wouldn't I? Now that I'm a mortal, ruling over a kingdom is not a bad way to live such a short insignificant life."

"Who's ruling a kingdom?" asked Oz as he entered. He looked remarkably well for someone who had a three stories fall, the only evidence of it being a small contusion on the right side of his face.

"I am." answered Anya with a wide smile. "And it only cost me $3.95."

"Wow. Nice."

"No. Not nice. No one's ruling over anything because I have no kingdom to give."

Xander's confession made Anya turned to him with a betrayed expression.

"Well then why would you go throwing around empty promises like that? That is…really mean! It makes me feel all hurt. And I don't know why." she pouted.

"It wasn't—It's just an expression. I didn't…the meaning…why don't I just give you a rain check?"

"Yes please." interrupted Buffy. "Because right now I want to talk about the Mayor. Willow, did you find anything yesterday?"

The redhead jumped at the sudden attention then assumed a guilty expression, knowing she had to inform Buffy of her failure.

"I…Oz and I s-searched for hours, before getting kidnapped of course. I..We…there isn't anything on the books or the net about killing an invulnerable being…"

"So…we can't touch him." said Buffy solemnly. "He's going to be here to _mock us, _and I can't even give him a shiner."

The blonde crossed her arms and started pacing. The charm couldn't be impossible to negate because if so then why weren't there a bunch of invulnerable people running around causing chaos. Of course maybe it took a powerful magic user to do the spell in the first place but it still wasn't fair. How where they going to rescue Faith if they couldn't harm the Big Bad that took her?

It was at that moment that an unusually bedraggled Wesley strode inside, still wearing yesterday's clothing. He was carrying an office box full of loose papers that seemed like they could fall out in a stumble. Seeing him made Buffy remember what the Watcher had being doing all night, the thought filling her with a surge of hope.

"What did the Council say?" she asked him, anticipation shining in her eyes.

The Watcher stopped and avoided her eyes, biting his lips in speechlessness before continuing, for lack of a table, on to the check out desk where he laid down his box. Starting to feel uncertainty, the Slayer followed him and leaned into the desk to catch his gaze.

"Wes…"

The nickname had him looking at her strangely before letting out a strangled grunt.

"They, um…they couldn't- they _wouldn't_ help."

"..what? What do you mean wouldn't?"

"They said…that Faith was..herm…there are ways to distort the senses and keep a Sleeper from activating or uh deactivating as well."

"Then what is the problem?" asked Giles tersely. But he could see where it was going and he didn't like it. He could tell that the young Watcher didn't like it either and was conflicted about the orders that were imparted upon him.

"The Council decided that even if we could override whatever Mayor Wilkins does to Faith it would still leave us with a…defective Slayer. She would no longer be a competent weapon."

"What does that mean?" questioned Buffy, grip on the edge of the desk trembling in suppressed anger.

"….I was ordered to focus your efforts into neutralizing the threat that Faith posed."

A beat.

"After all she did." started Buffy softly. "After all she did for them. For _you. _You're throwing her out like yesterday's garbage?"

"I don't _want_ to do it. I was ordered—"

"Ordered? It's always orders with you Wesley! Well I've just about had it! I don't think I'm going to be taking more orders. From you or the Council."

"You…you can't turn your back on the Council." But the statement was said so weakly that it was noticeable that even Wesley didn't believe much in it.

"They're in England. I don't think they can tell which way my back is facing."

"But, Giles…say something." solicited Wesley looking flustered.

The older Watcher had watched their exchange sternly and as Wesley pleaded for his input he chose to announce what he thought really needed to be heard.

"I think, the only one that should speak at this moment it's you Wesley. Do _you_ want to follow those orders?"

The young British man stood flabbergasted, being put on the spot. The room was silent awaiting his response. A response he wasn't so sure he had figured out himself. Looking at Buffy with a pained countenance he barely gasped out his conflicting thoughts.

"The Council is all I know. All I have."

Buffy stared. She thought he was going to say differently, being Faith's Watcher. The other Slayer had placed such trust in him these last few days and she didn't trust easily. She even defended him sometimes, whenever the Scoobies started with the teasing. And now, now Wesley was abandoning her at the drop of a hat. Or a British word in this case.

"Go back to your Council then." she ordered coldly. "Go back, and don't you _dare_ come near Faith again."

Wesley floundered and then lowered his head in guilt before nodding despondently and walking to the doors. There he paused and turned to Giles.

"Um…in the box. I uh, I wrote down all I remembered and uh..a book I found. Might help." Giving yet another shaky nod he stepped out and left the sepulchral room.

Not long after he left there was a loud crumbling sound and everybody turned to look astounded at the small Slayer who had a piece of the check out desk on one of her hands. She nonchalantly dropped the marble chunk and dusted her hands with a tight smile.

"I'm going to go put on my robes. Don't want to be late for graduation."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"-and that is why you must be proud of what you've achieved, because as citizens of such a fine town as Sunnydale, we are a persistent and optimist bunch. We don't lie down without giving a fight back. Why gosh, we endure. We endure and then we prosper. Yes indeed because at the end of the day, it is those who never faltered, who never doubted even in the most turbulent of times…it is those, who get to take home the price. Congratulations Class of 1999….you've survived!"

The crowd of students and parents erupted in applause and soon maroon caps jumped all over the air above the graduating class. The teenagers were now officially done with school and already were running off to enjoy their newfound freedom.

It was amidst this disorder that Buffy and Willow were shoving their way to catch up to Mayor Wilkins' retreating figure. Once out of the crowd they were intercepted by Joyce who wanted to take a picture of Buffy. The Slayer sighted the Big Bad who along with his two body guards, was about to board a small black limousine. With an impatient 'Not now.' to her mother, she jogged hurriedly towards her fleeing target.

"Hey you kidnapping ass, don't you run from me!" yelled the maddened Slayer.

Her yelled insult had the desired effect of freezing the Mayor and his lackeys in their tracks. It also caught the attention of Joyce and some of the people nearby who turned to stare at the confrontation. The Mayor's bodyguards made moves to intercept the blonde threat but the politician pacified them with a hand wave.

"Ms. Summers, that is not the proper way young ladies should express themselves."

"Cut the bullshit, Dick. Where is she? Where's Faith?"

The Mayor chuckled and opened the limousine's door.

"My Faithy is where she should be, safe at home and far from your horrible influences."

"How many times do we have to tell you? She belongs with us!"

"Well I beg to differ. Why, I let her stay over for a while and you bring her back with a broken bone. Shame on you people. Now my poor Faithy is in pain and I got to give her extra minerals just to keep her still. She must not have been drinking her milk like I told her. But still, that just tells me you are but a bad weed to her, and I'll make sure she never stays near the likes of y—"

All of a sudden Mayor Wilkins was being held up against his limousine by the furious blonde. There were several shouts of surprise as the on-looking crowd chattered amongst themselves. Joyce called out her daughter's name and ran to her, Willow and the rest coming behind.

"You touch her, and I break you." The blonde gritted out in the Mayor's face while his bodyguards tried to haul her off. "I swear to God I will find a way and when I do, I will end you."

"Buffy!" cried out a breathless Joyce. "Let him go. This is neither the time nor place for such things."

When the blonde looked as if she wasn't going to comply, her mother gave her a warning look and insisted. "Buffy, people are looking."

The Slayer glared at her composed enemy one final time before letting him drop and easily shrugging aside the hands of the two bodyguards. The Mayor for his part fixed up his rumpled suit taking out a disposable towel to clean up the parts that Buffy touched. He then turned a smile at the newly arrived Scoobies and at the hostile mother and daughter duo.

"I dare say Mrs. Summers, your daughter has such terrible manners."

"I taught her the best." answered Joyce.

"…As I would expect. Well I'm sorry to leave you so soon but I got a child of my own at home and apart from others, I intend to raise her good and proper like she should."

His parting comment almost made Buffy leap out for him again but she was held down by her mother and friends. Soon the limousine was rolling away from the school yard and Buffy was left to hose down her anger. She had to be level headed now. She was the Slayer and so everyone was counting on her to lead.

"Willow?"

"Here Buffy." said the redhead quickly, glad to be of use.

"I need you and Oz to get on your computer and look up all of Wilkins' properties. I'll go ask around Willy's to check what he's heard. Giles, you take the others and work on how to stop that brain spell. We'll meet up at the library in two hours and compare facts."

"Erm, Buffy" said the Watcher hesitantly. "We might have a problem. With the library I mean."

-x-x-x-x-x-

_Giles got fired. By Snyder._

Buffy couldn't believe that human rat fired her Watcher at graduation. And over some chairs and a table. Okay there was the desk too…and the computer…and really, was the scorch mark that noticeable? Still, Giles made up for it a dozen times with excellent work, and it wasn't like the students actually used the furniture there. She'd know. She practically lived at the library the past 3 years. But now it looked like that time of her life was long gone. She would just have to get used to having Scooby meetings at her house. Which brought her back to the matter at hand. She kicked in the bar's door sending demons growling in displeasure and vampires running away from the sudden daylight and her outlined silhouette.

"Alright Willy, you know how it goes. I need the score on the Mayor and any deals around him."

"Whoa Slayer, what- the Mayor as in Mayor Wilkins III?"

"Don't play dumb Willy because I'm angry and kicking ass always makes me feel better." she said as she punched a dent on the bar. "All that you know about the Mayor. Now."

"Okay okay , calm down Slayer. That's good wood you're breaki-and let's talk about Wilkins." he spitted out fast seeing Buffy's eyes flash with promises of pain. "Well you know, unkillable Big Bad of the town, got his hands in almost everything. Nothing dirty goes on in Sunny D without him knowing, which is probably bad for me right now."

"Tell me of anything he's done recently."

"Right, no worries over my possible death. Recent…um…Ah! He's had his people running around town on errands since yesterday. Must be planning one heck of an enchantment 'cause his vamps made a lotta orders to the magic store in Main. Oh and the pharmacy too."

"The pharmacy? What would he want there?"

"Beats me." Willy said as he scratched his head in equal puzzlement. "All this head honcho types are pretty eccentric sometimes. I heard he's not crazy about germs, maybe some soap?"

"Maybe." she muttered pensively. "Anyone know where he lives?"

"Nope. Can't help you there Slayer. His people are very tight lip about it. Strange really."

"Great." Buffy said disappointed. She hoped Willow had more success in that area than she did. "Thanks for the info Willy."

"Hey, always a pleasure to avoid your fists."

-x-x-x-x-x-

White stylish gates were opened and the black limousine drove through, approaching a two stories Victorian mansion. It was an old but splendorous house to see. Its white-bordered arch windows and cornerstones contrasting delightfully with the dark red bricks the house was made of. Terracotta tiles draping its pointed roof, the structure looked as if it belonged more in the English countryside than in some small town in the States.

The luxurious car rounded around a patch of colorful flowers and pulled up on the front of the house. A door opened and out stepped the Mayor. He dismissed the limousine and climbed a sweep of marble steps towards the wood-carved entrance door. The inside of the abode was just as marvelous as its geometrically pleasing outside, with its walnut paneled floors, polished furniture, rustic rugs and Spanish baroque paintings decorating its wooden walls.

Richard Wilkins hung his coat in a stylish coat hanger and crossed the expansive foyer towards the master stairs where two suited vampires stood; one holding a paper bag of undetermined items, and the other a silver platter with a smoking bowl of soup and a small bottle of pills.

"I take it there was no problem on this morning's errands." the Mayor asked jovially.

Paper bag vampire eagerly stepped up and showed the contents of its package to the politician.

"The last shipment of Gingko Biloba and Gotu Kola arrived, ready for pick up. Also we were in luck. The store had a good batch of Comfrey left and sent it along."

The last bit caught the Big Bad's attention fast.

"You got me Comfrey? Well this is excellent; I dare say I can finally do something to sooth my firecracker. That poor girl. Breaks my heart how that Buffy Summers left her get hurt." The Mayor frowned in displeasure at the mere name of the blonde. "Well, nothing some good chicken soup can't fix. You put in some potatoes too right?"

The vampire with the platter quickly nodded but had to stop his movements as they almost spilled the contents of his cargo.

"That is great. Some good carbs and meat will get her back on her feet. I'll go take this to her before it cools. Meanwhile, I'll need you to get me the old projector from the library. And, make sure you're careful with it." The last words he said in a more serious manner apart from his jovial tone. The seriousness lasted but a second before he was back to his usual smiles and chuckles.

Taking the silver platter and the paper bag, the man walked to finally greet the person he'd been thinking about all morning. But instead of climbing the master stairs, he sidestepped them and went to open a well disguised door underneath the steps. Behind the door rather than a cupboard there was a descending stairway that, contrary to the rest of the opulent house, was actually made of dank, untreated wood. As the man made his way down, small grunts and hisses could begin to be distinguished coming from the chamber the steps lead to. The pain behind the suppressed sounds made the middle age man hurry the last steps to enter a room that must have been used before for underground mining. Various abandoned pick axes and carts could be found randomly on the dusty floor, but the room's most prominent feature was the source of the sounds and its guardian.

Under the slight illumination of an old arc light sat Faith; arms, legs, torso and head bound tightly to an iron chair. A chair that look as if it had been taken from some prison death chamber, yet was strangely customized to make its captive as comfortable as possible. With a padded seat and shackles covered in sheepskin, the girl could say she was very well treated for a captured prisoner. That is if it wasn't for the fact her leg was smarting and every muscle in her body was spasming in answer. She didn't particularly like being so defenseless in front of a vampire either, and already she could hear someone else come to join her in her humid hole-of-a-cell.

"Ooh, more company. I think Big Boss has finally come down for his piece of the pie."

There went her mouth. Faith had a tendency to talk shit the more screwed she found herself, something she should try to control before someone ripped her head off in a rage. But she still couldn't help herself. Her current vamp jailer got easily pissed off by the slightest comments and annoying him to hell wasn't that fun anymore, so she'd prefer to try and get her jollies elsewhere. Elsewhere as in the newly arrived Wilkins, with what looked like her prison gruel.

"You know, I thought Ronnie and his whip would be the freakiest thing I'd do but I couldn't have been more wrong. Just don't expect me to service Nosferatu over there 'cause even I have standards. Wouldn't hit that even with a pulse."

That got Blondie vampire to bare his fangs, but it only took one disapproving look from the Big Bad and the vampire backed off from his menacing stance.

"Cool trick. Can he roll over too?"

Her smart ass comment was answered by very angry growls and Faith's taunting 'Down Cujo' forced the Mayor to intervene more actively.

"William, why don't you take some time off." counseled the Mayor. "Go grab a drink upstairs. I think some fresh AB negative arrived yesterday."

Though the offer would be tempting to any vampire, Willy Dafoe wasn't that attracted to it, his scowl remaining on the smirking prisoner. "She could escape."

"Don't worry about that. I'll be staying here with Faithy for the rest of the day. You can go." Wilkins prodded again.

With his previous task and excuse to remain made obsolete, the sandy haired vampire had no choice but to obey.

"I'll patrol the tunnels then. Not hungry at the moment." he commented before giving the Slayer one last warning stare which was answered by a cocky lifted eyebrow. Clenching his fist he turned and followed some rusty rail tracks, disappearing in the darkness of a mined tunnel.

"Got 'em well trained boss man. You know that ain't happening with me?"

"Oh Faith, always so cheeky. Still, you shouldn't tease them so, I mean not until we take care of that leg of yours." said Richard Wilkins as he deposited the platter in one of the two small tables besides Faith's chair. The tables were already full with various smelly herbs, bowls and strange equipment that Faith hope weren't freaky torture devices.

"Yeah." she uttered warily, her attention on his movements by the tables. "That's a little gift of yours I haven't said thank you for. Excuse me if I don't bother, what with the pounding pain and all."

"Ah yes, William told me. Terrible misunderstanding. If those boys weren't already dust in Buffy Summer's shoes I would have like to have a few stern words with them."

The Mayor's cheery voice never faltered while doing his multiple tasks for preparing a goopy green paste in a stone mortar. He muttered a word and the paste started smoking as if it had just come out of an oven. Smiling in pleasure of the results, he settled the mortar on the floor by Faith's feet before turning his scrutiny to the white bottle in the food platter.

"But you won't have to worry much longer firecracker-" Taking out two pills and grounding them to dust with a pestle before sprinkling them over the warm soup. "-because I got just what you need."

"Date rape?" she questioned with just a tinge of fear that it may be true.

Her idea wasn't well received by the Mayor.

"Now what have I told you about that kind of talk young lady? No, this is just a little something for your leg, get you hopping back to your usual self. Also, it's got potatoes. I know you like them."

"What? H-how do you know that?"

Faith hated how she sounded so insecure and scared but his unexpected knowledge about her tastes had thrown her completely off her confident game.

The Mayor smiled at her as if the answer was obvious.

"Well sweetheart, how can I not know? Why, you told me yourself not long ago. You can't have changed so much in so little time. Now eat your soup. Bones don't mend themselves without help."

The Slayer watched the offered spoonful of delicious smelling broth with uncertainty. Sure, the guy had yet to do her any serious harm while in captivity and when he talked he sounded like the sincere type. His voice alone inspired unusual trust somewhere deep in her being. But still, she wouldn't be stupid enough to not take precautions, especially after she saw him spice the food right in front of her eyes. That extra something could have been anything from coke to even laxatives.

Watching her hesitance, the Mayor smiled sardonically and ate the spoonful to show her there couldn't possibly be anything harmful in the soup. Taking out a disposable towel to clean the spoon, the politician offered the girl another bite which she grudgingly accepted. She was too hungry to spite him and whatever the hell he added to the soup didn't take anything from its taste, something her rabid stomach greatly appreciated.

"That wasn't me you know." she said in between mouthfuls. "The one that told you 'bout the potatoes. She just knew because of my memories."

Richard Wilkins chuckled in an all knowing manner making the Slayer pause in her eating.

"Now that is where you are wrong Faithy. See, that is where everyone is _very_ wrong."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Xander and Giles were sprawled around the Summers' living room looking over Wesley's notes which were settled over most of the coffee table. Xander was flipping through several loose papers, once in a while making funny faces at the stuff he read. Meanwhile the Watcher was sitting on the lounge chair perusing the book that his successor left and deeply immersed in his reading.

From the kitchen area there came voices that neared. Joyce and Anya entered in mid conversation, carrying a tray of refreshments.

"Oh I know his type." declared Anya with a knowing smile. "Your typical no good but wealthy cheater. They're really uncreative too. I mean, why is it always their secretary? But I don't mind much because that means they get caught and I get a lot of work."

"Work?" asked Joyce dubiously as she made some space on the coffee table to put down the tray of refreshments.

"Yes, kind of like special orders. Usually some torture with a little bit of maiming on the side. It can get repetitive too but every once in a while someone would wish for something really innovating." The ex-demon sighted in remembrance of pleasure then looked to her hesitant companion. "Say, don't you just wish—"

"Aaand I feel obligated to step in now." interrupted Xander as he reached for a cool glass of juice. "I don't think _the Slayer_'_s_ mom would be interested in any of your particular services…. and when I say services I mean of the demon wish variety and not anything to do with any other naughtiness involved and I should just shut up now. Hey is that lemonade? Why don't we talk about that."

"Yes Xander." agreed the awkward Joyce.

"Pff, it wasn't like I could do anything about it anyways. I don't have any powers. Stupid witch." Anya harrumphed and dropped down on the sofa to sulk besides the researching boy.

"Rupert, I brought you some tea."

At Joyce's prompt the Watcher finally lifted his eyes from the book and accepted the tea cup from her hands.

"Ah, thank you. Though I might think coffee would do me better later."

"I'll put a pot in for you after I'm done with the kids." said Joyce. She grabbed two glasses and left for the dining room where Willow and Oz were net surfing.

"Coffee? You turning American on us G-man?"

Giles scowled. He looked like he might say something about the distasteful moniker but decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Tea is soothing and I wish to be tense right now."

"Okay, but you're destroying a perfectly good cultural stereotype here and ugh, if this is right then Faith had to listen to Wesley talk nonstop for 3 hours straight. No wonder she went crazy. Well you know, the other her."

"Faith wouldn't have been able to tell the passage of time. She would have needed to be in a deep trance in order for her mind to uh, properly record both calls of sleep and awakening. I dare say the hardest part was Wesley's programming of the calls as he must have remained constant in his stimulation of the chosen sense, and though audition is the most manageable sense to program it still most have been bothersome to recite the same phrase in a similar frequency for such a long time."

"Wow…trance, stimulation, and for a long time." babbled out the boy with a blank face lost in daydreams. Anya rolled her eyes at his typical male response and decided to busy herself with the reading material on the table.

"Yes Xander. I'm glad my words weren't lost on someone unworthy of instruction." said Giles dryly as he moodily returned to his book. He sometimes asked himself why he bothered to explain particularities to these children. Amidst his inner grumblings he heard the front door opening.

_It must be Buffy. _

"I'm back and not a complete failure, I hope."

The red panted Slayer walked in and dropped a long piece of crinkled paper on the table.

"That's a list of ingredients sold at the Magic store since yesterday. Willy says that's were vamps hang out now. Oh and the pharmacy."

"The pharmacy?" said Giles in puzzlement while he examined the list Buffy brought.

"Yeah it got me screwy too. Whatever happened to sewers? Anyway, I couldn't get anything out of the owners. Grumpy old men." she muttered the last sending a vindictive thought to the two grampas who shooed her off after she asked if she could have a glimpse at their last sales. Like people's medicines were such a big deal to hide anyway.

"What have you guys found?" she asked with anxiousness tingeing her voice.

"Well Buff, we won't have to worry about a time constraint 'cause it looks like Faith will need to be constantly stimulated for 3 hours straight." Seeing Buffy's disturbed and worried look he hurried fast to correct himself. "I didn't phrase that well,… or did I?"

"No you didn't. It would be longer than 3 hours." Anya's perky voice and Giles' following 'Anya's right.' made Buffy and Xander almost choke on their own spit.

"About the hours." Giles clarified sourly. "The Mayor will most undoubtedly want to convert Faith back into the girl he remembered. That would mean awakening the specific alter mind created by Wesley in his first spell. Since he does not have the auditory Sleeping Command to do so, he will need to create another um, well, gate to access and liberate this part of Faith. This new gate would open to any other programmed sensory command except those concerning her sense of hearing."

The Watcher noticed that his Slayer was frustrated because she wasn't following his logic quite well thus he thought of a better way to make her picture it.

"Buffy, think of it like a house inside Faith's mind and within it resides Faith's alter mind. This house can only have five doors that can be opened and closed with a sense command be that seen, heard, tasted, smelled or touched. Wesley holds the commands of the hearing door. The Mayor can only create and use a command that can open one of the other four doors left."

"And because the Auditor Sleeper spell is the easiest of them all the other senses would take far longer to program." added in Anya with enthusiasm.

"I was getting to that." muttered Giles to himself. But the ex-vengeance demon heard him anyway.

"I know. But you stole my ingenious observation first so we're even. Don't worry Slayer, Faith will be stimulated for a lot more than 3 hours."

"Right. That's good." said Buffy, deciding to forego the picture that the comment brought to her mind. "Means we have more time to find her before he can change her. Giles, can you tell which sense door he's going to go after with only ingredients?"

"Uh I-, not altogether. To do so I'd need more than Wesley's notes since he only wrote about the Auditor Sleeper spell."

"Buffy!" into the living room came Willow followed by her boyfriend. The witch had in her hand several print outs that Buffy hoped brought in better news.

"Will, tell me those are leads on location."

"Yeah. Well not exactly. Oz and I found out the Mayor is like loaded and has a bunch of properties in California under his name. But don't get sad! We both thought since you know he went to graduation he's most probably using one in Sunnydale. Still there are a lot. Most of the empty warehouses and factories here belong to him in some way. We printed out the addresses, with some maps too."

The redhead gave the pile of papers to her blonde friend. As Buffy started to go through them she found out just how many there were, her high spirits of a lead plummeting with each page she flipped. There were just too many. She wouldn't be able to finish checking each one 'till well after dark, and by then Faith would already be lost to her.

"Isn't…Isn't there some way to narrow it down? I can't…I…I don't have time to go to all of them."

"W-we could split up." suggested Willow with hesitance.

"No. No, we can't. Splitting up is bad. I can't have any of you going alone. And even if it wasn't dangerous we still wouldn't be able to check all the buildings in less than six or seven hours and by then….Dammit!"

Buffy paced furiously trying to think of something that might point out which of the locations would be the right one. Willow on the other hand was looking despondent at having failed Buffy yet again. She had tried really hard, had given it her all to help Buffy find Faith. The brunette had saved her life without a thought the other night and Willow never got the chance to thank her. And now it was looking like she may never get it which made her feel infinitely worse about all the hostility she had been directing to the girl these past weeks.

Willow felt an arm go around her shoulder in a consoling manner. She smiled. Oz always knew when she was feeling down. The werewolf gave her a small knowing quirk of the lip before a frown descended on his face. She knew that face. It was Oz's 'I just had a thought.' face.

"Buffy." he called the Slayer who surprisingly stopped her self-mumbling at his sudden input. "Wesley made the other Faith only a few months ago and the Mayor said he had to go home so he must be in a residential property. One of the addresses is for a lease made recently. As in four months ago."

Buffy's eyes widened and she started rifling through the papers on her hands until she came upon the desired address. Sure enough it was a penthouse at an apartment building. This must have been where the other Faith lived. Buffy was already making her way out when she heard Giles call her.

"What?"

"Think for a moment girl. You have no weapons. No plan. You can't rush off there without any kind of preparation—"

"Giles, I know. I'm just going to do a little recon, look around and see if she's really there. No engaging of any kind on my part."

"Let me come with you then." pleaded Willow.

"No Will I can't take you and before you get 'resolve face' on me I'll tell you why. I need you and Giles to look over what I brought and find out what kind of magic the Mayor is cooking. Oh, and can you hack into the town pharmacy's sales database?"

"Oh! Sure! Easy as pie."

"Good. Get their last sales since yesterday…And then maybe crash their system with a techno bug."

The redhead stared in dubiousness at Buffy's last order.

"What? They'd deserve it, for obstructing a Slayer investigation." Buffy replied indignant yet receiving no support on her vendetta. "Fine, no crashing. Just the sales. Now I better get going fast."

The Slayer smiled good bye to her friends and swung around, marching off to her mission…with two other pair of feet following. She looked back with a frown and there were Xander and Anya.

"What are you doing?" she asked exasperated.

"Going with you of course. Anya, I don't know."

"I'm following Xander. I don't want to be stuck reading with the boring old man." the ex-demon explained plainly.

"Okay then follow him right back to the house because that's where he's staying."

"And here I thought you said going alone was dangerous." persisted the boy.

"…I did. B-but I meant—"

"Then there's the fact is not a beastie fighting mission yeah?" he continued on a roll.

"But it could be. I mean, you know demons, never bother with calls—"

"Weren't you on a really big hurry?" added Anya.

"I-yes. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I got a car." The ex-vengeance demon smiled in triumph.

Buffy sighted defeated. "Alright, let's go."

**-… still to be concluded-**


	7. Betting on the river Pt 2

**A/N:** Alright this has been sitting on my computer for a whole year. There's actually over twenty more pages written than the ones I'm posting, but I got a huge case of writer's block in the last scene of the ending. I know what I want to happen but I just can't seem to bring it to text the way I see it in my mind. I got so frustrated that I decided I might as well post half of what I have written instead of letting it waste away.

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**Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:**

**Buffy (serious):** "Make the trade"

**Faith:** "Can you believe this guy? Princess Margaret wants to keep that box AND the redhead."

**Wilkins (chuckling):** "Some people just don't understand the principles of trade."

**Faith:** "Yeah…but I think that's a great idea"

Faith stabs the Mayor with her knife. Then looks surprised as he regenerates.

An angry Mayor grabs Wesley by his lapels.

**Wilkins:** "What did you do to her?"

**Willow:** "A Sleeper mind spell from the Dewittian Grimoire?"

**Xander:** "That was the secret phrase right? Like a bond novel."

Giles advances angrily towards Wesley.

**Giles:** You pompous bastard!

**Giles:** You took advantage of your authority and deliberately forced one of your charges under such a spell"

**Wesley:** The Council had already decided that Faith was dangerously unstable. This plan was the _only way_ I could convince them to give Faith a fighting chance."

Buffy sits down by Faith.

**Buffy:** So you're helping us now,"

**Faith (smiling):** "The Chosen two, wiping vamps off the face of the earth."

The Mayor surprises the Scoobies at the library.

**Wilkins:** "Mr. Pryce, you think you were so smart. Shame on you, messing up my Faithy's mind."

**Wesley (stuttering):** "I ret-turned Faith to her n-natural state of being."

**Wilkins:** "You took away my sweet Faith. That is something I cannot forget."

Faith gets chased and run over by a car.

Faith lies with a leg cast in a Hospital bed.

**Faith:** "So, did I stake Don Vito's vamp kid or something?"

**Xander:** "More like you're Connie and the Don wants you back."

Buffy falls to her knees as she hopelessly watches a black sedan drive away with Faith.

Buffy grabs the Mayor and slams him against a limo.

**Buffy:** "Where is she? Where's Faith?"

**Wilkins:** "My Faithy is where she should be. And I'll make sure she's never near the likes of you."

**Buffy (angry):** "You touch her, and I break you."

**Giles:** "The Mayor will most undoubtedly want to convert Faith back into the girl he remembered."

Faith is in near darkness, shackled to a metal chair.

**Faith:** "That wasn't me you know."

**Wilkins (chuckling):** "Now that is where you are wrong Faithy. That is where everyone is _very_ wrong."

**Oz:** "Wesley made the other Faith only a few months ago. One of the addresses is for a lease made recently. As in four months ago."

**Buffy:** "Alright, let's go."

xx

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**Betting on the River Pt 2**

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-x-x-x-x-x-

_**Sunnydale Docks, January 1999**_

_He just wanted to help._

_From his hiding spot behind a cargo trailer, he saw the vampire slam his choking victim against a wall of crates and prepare to deliver the killing bite. It looked like the girl wasn't going to be able to stop the attack, and so he decided to swallow his ever present survival fears and step out. He would explain his presence when it was safer. _

_Fumbling about his jacket in order to find his stake, the bespectacled man raised his eyes to the struggling figures and stopped his frantic searching at once. _

_There was no need for an intervention. Someone had already stepped in. Stabbed from behind, the vampire dissolved in ashes, leaving victim and savior facing each other. _

_It was that moment, that unconscious, uncalculated reaction by the girl to help and save her fellow Slayer, the only evidence he needed to know that there was still hope. She must still feel the Slayer's urge to protect life and so was still redeemable. She only lacked guidance. _

_He carefully adjusted his sleeves and waited until the grateful would-be victim departed while she remained still, watching her go. The girl must have been in deep thought as her advanced senses didn't pick up on his approaching figure until he was standing mere feet away._

_She immediately tensed upon setting eyes on him, her face clouding with anger. He winced. Not the emotion he needed her to feel at the moment. The girl then looked back at the far off retreating figure of the blonde she just saved._

"_That bitch." she exhaled in barely contained fury. _

"_Calm down Faith." _

"_She sold me out?"_

"_What? N-no, I followed her. She doesn't know I'm here a-and I can explain my presence if you calm down and listen for a mom—"_

"_I'll listen alright. I'll listen to your bones break when I beat you and you're Brit-ass friends. C'mon, call them out!" Faith shouted while looking around to all dark corners, forcing her eyes to pierce the shadows and find the hidden threats. "Get out here you sissy cowards!"_

"_Faith stop! There is no one here."_

"_Right." she answered, clearly not believing him. _

"_No, it's true. The Council doesn't know where you've gone. __**I **__only found you with luck. I'm..I came al-alone." he sputtered the last with small traces of insecurity tingeing his voice._

"…_Really?"_

_There was a pause. The untrusting girl fixed her eyes on him staring him down with enough force to unnerve him. Because of her silence he thought she was actually waiting for him to say something. His mouth opened to deliver his carefully planned speech when the Slayer did an unexpected leap, closing half the distance between them and scaring him with the sudden move. _

_His first instincts were to cover his face. Arms raised, he stood there awaiting the pain to come…but what came was the sound of laughter. The brunette Slayer was chuckling at him, her tense figure relaxing into a confident stance. _

"_Well whadaya know, no SWAT team jumping out. Guess we __**are**__ alone." _

_Her eyes then turned predatory as she took slow steps towards him quite similar to those of a big cat in a hunt. _

"_Just you…me…and look at that, a whole lotta water." _

"_Faith, listen to me. I came here to help you." _

"_**Every**__body wants to help now. I'm suddenly surrounded by Samaritans with their __**good**__ intentions and __**caring**__ feelings. But you know what? Samaritans, heh, no such animal. Now fakers, yeah! Plenty of those in this world….. As well as __**stupid**__ people who! Fall! For! Their! Lies! But I ain't stupid Wes. I'm not letting you or your buddies ship me out to some crazy farm in the butthole of England!"_

_Wesley flinched, his will to be heard the only thing keeping him from running away instead of having an angry Slayer screaming on his face. _

"_Your anger blinds you Faith. It keeps you from seeing the good in people. I am not lying. I have a plan. With it, I can convince the Council to let you stay! It may be the only chance we'll have! Believe it or not, I do want to be your Watcher."_

"_Bullshit." she muttered before grabbing a hold of the front of his shirt and lifting him off his feet as if he weighted no more than a bag of leafs. _

"_P-please Faith, hear me out!" he yelled as she swiftly carried him to the edge of the dock. His hands grasped both of hers in survival fright while she dangled him over the churning waters deep below. His mind started filling him in on all aquatic demon species he'd studied in his Watcher training. _

"_See Wes, I don't know if you know but I'm from Boston, and we kinda like our British __**wet**__. If you know what I mean."_

"_Y-you won't do it. I just saw you save Buffy."_

"_Her lucky night. Trick pissed me off more than she did. Next time she won't be so lucky. Now if I were you I'd be sucking up air."_

"_That is not true."_

"_Doesn't take a genius to figure out there's no air where you're going."_

"_You know what I meant. You lie to yourself. You say one thing but inside you know otherwise."_

_That comment hit something as her face screwed up in anger and Wesley started regretting coming here alone. Something rippled the surface of the water. He didn't know if it was real or if his adrenaline-stimulated mind was making him see things. He shot a glance at his sleeve where a slight bulge could be seen. _

"_The truth is that __**you**__ are a dead man! So long Wes!"_

_Her hands started releasing him and Wesley's heart skipped as he felt gravity calling him to a possible watery grave. The Watcher desperately closed his fists tightly on her denim jacket and spouted out the first thing he thought would make her see reason and pardon his life. _

"_Wait! I- I know! I know about Boston! A-about your mother and Ms. Dormer! I've seen your life!"_

_She stopped trying to dislodge his grip and then Wesley found himself pushed back to the ground with Faith staring at him blankly. _

"_..what?"_

"_I've….I've read the file. A-a-and I understand, Faith, I do! I..I know that it has been difficult for you, all these years. You've got..__**s**__o much anger in you. So much hate. It is not abnormal to believe that circumstances may have affected some of your judgments. Th-there's been injustice a-and violence in almost every aspect of your life…But underneath it all, I can still see your true spirit, shining. You are a protector at heart. __**That's**__ why you saved Buffy. That's why I believe you can be a good Slayer, you wish to be. Please…please just let me help you. Let me be your Watcher. I promise…if you let me, I will do my job, brilliantly….Please."_

_He looked at her with all his hopes. She looked back._

"_...Fuck you We-"_

"-esley."

The Watcher jumped as he was jolted out of his haunting thoughts. He turned to face his caller.

"I got the markers." said Angel holding out a black silk bag.

"Oh, em, good. We can commence with the blessing."

He started towards the vampire, settled in keeping occupied to forget the tormenting memories pushing in his mind. Angel watched him take out five tablets of dark wood and start laying them on top of his sitting room's oriental rug, his mind unconsciously hoping the ritual didn't damage the textile. It was an authentic Persian carpet.

"You are sure about this?" the vampire asked. "This is very dangerous magic. It could easily get out of control."

"Yes. Unfortunately it is needed." Wesley smiled tightly. "You can't kill the unkillable right?"

-x-x-x-x-x-

An 80's yellow Toyota screeched to a violent halt three blocks away from a stylish apartment building. Inside, two of its passengers held on tightly to their seatbelts as if these were precious lifelines.

"Wow." said a wide eyed Xander after a second of silence. "I think I saw the lettering on that mailbox."

"Yeah….Things sure look a lot different from this side." commented a pale Buffy as she unbuckled and shakily got out of the passenger front seat.

Anya moodily eyed both her frightened passengers while they exited the vehicle to approach the apartment building. They were looking all too happy to get as far from the Toyota as possible. Their attitude brought a strange feeling of annoyance to the ex-demon, a sentiment she didn't take long to express.

"What? So I failed to evade some pesky obstacles—"

"You mowed down three bicycles and a fruit cart." quickly disclosed Xander.

"Roads are for cars!" defended Anya.

"They were on the sidewalk."

"So? It's still public property!…Fine! I'd like to see you teleporting for the first time! Probably would leave off an ear." she muttered the last grumpily while stomping irritably behind the two friends.

"Wait a minute" said Buffy suddenly, turning to look at Anya with horror and disbelief. "You mean to say this was your first time driving?"

"Of course not!...It was my second time.

"Oh my God I almost died again." the Slayer whispered to herself, turning back to her task in order to dissolve thoughts of her almost second death.

"Well I didn't think it would be _that_ hard. The movie with the two lady robbers made it seem easy."

"I'm taking these now." said Xander as he plucked the car keys from Anya's hands.

"Hey! Give me those—"

"Shh! Not now, we're here." silenced Buffy before Anya could continue her protests.

The three had arrived at the building's front door. To the Slayer's luck it didn't need to be opened by a tenant. Entering with cautious looks around, they quietly ascended the stairs, Buffy keeping an ear out for any disturbances. Up two floors and no vampire jumped at them. No sound came from the other apartments either.

_Weird. _

This lack of confrontation made Buffy think that either she was expected or they had guessed wrong and Faith wasn't being jailed here. That last option made her become distressed enough to rush the last flight of stairs to the third floor apartment door. Buffy's sudden movements made Xander call out to her, but she dismissed his attempt to make her wait. Her hand in the doorknob, the door opened without any interference—revealing an empty but well furnished apartment.

The three teenagers entered the room, making sure to glance into every corner. Their search discovered nothing they hadn't already deduced at first glance. No one was home.

"Well this blows." broke in Anya.

"I know. Kind of anticlimactic. I was gearing up for at least one super villain speech." quipped Xander as he looked around the tidied up room.

"I meant the apartment. It's nicer than mine! Here I've worked hard for more than a thousand years to earn my living and this _girl_ was only in the business for three lousy months."

"Four and a half months actually."

"Whatever! That is not a fair system!"

"Yyyeah…well that..sucks." he said uncertainly. "You could make a complaint. Is there a Department of Evil Labor?"

But Anya didn't let him know if there was as she was already busy perusing around some of the posh colored furniture. Xander sighted then turned to look at his best friend who was standing in the middle of the room looking quite dispirited.

"Don't be so down Buff. Maybe this is not really her crib. I mean, look at it. It's too…clean." he tried to encourage her.

Buffy glanced at her friend and registered his words. He was right. Faith wasn't the most orderly of people, evil or not. With a small ounce of hope she spotted a closed door and strode determinably towards it. But upon opening it she found a closet full of women's clothes, three quarters of them made of leather.

"It's hers." she concluded in defeat.

Her only solid lead to Faith's location proving to be a bust, Buffy's spirits were sweeping the floor. More than half a day gone and she was still in the same place she started from. With absolutely no freaking clue! What more could she do? She had already exhausted her options. It was like Wilkins was a step ahead of her every time. The guy had probably cleaned all his dirty tracks as well as he did everything he touched.

"Don't worry Buff, we'll find her soon. Hey, I bet by now Willow's got something new. We'll check that out and everything will be better. You'll see." said Xander starting to go back—until Buffy grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Wait."

"Buff?"

"No, you were right. This place is too clean and I've seen Faith total a room in just a commercial break. You know what that means?"

"The Mayor got her TiVo?"

"No! He was here! And better, he was here _after_ Other Faith's last visit and like the germ-phobe he is, he went and spring-cleaned the place."

"Sooo…?"

"So, well we look for new clues you know. Something he left behind after…cleaning and stuff."

Xander stared doubtfully at the pristine living space. As it was, they'd be lucky to find incriminating dust. Noticing his uncertainty the blonde pouted irritated and shoved him towards some dressers.

"Just grab anything that looks suspicious."

Anya looked up from her skulking near the sound system.

"You're saying we're allowed to take stuff?"

"Yes!" yelled the exasperated blonde from her new position by the kitchen.

The ex-demon smiled gleefully and started pocketing several CD's.

Meanwhile Buffy was opening all the kitchen cabinets finding mostly two cans of spaghettis, lots of boxes of Twizzlers, a bag of Friskies which made her pause, and just about every form a potato could take. If the clothes didn't give her away, certainly the food did. The Slayer smiled thinking about Faith's strange vegetable fixation. It'd be just like her to consider candy and fries all anyone ever needed to survive. But then her fond reminiscing of the girl's habits jarred to a stop as she made herself remember this wasn't Faith's pantry. It was Other Faith's. And so she asked herself just how much was Other Faith alike to her friend, and just how much she wasn't?

The mind-twisting thought was running around in her head for a while when her searching eyes landed in something that made Buffy dismiss her inner debate for a later time. There, on top of some basic paper trash in a waste basket, was the damning evidence Buffy had been looking for. Grabbing the beige basket, she sprinted joyfully to Xander.

The boy was standing by the large panoramic window, flipping through some comic books with a somber expression when Buffy appeared besides him with a shout.

"I was right!"

Xander jumped surprised, almost dropping his reading material as Buffy shoved the waste basket in his face.

"Okaay, what am I looking at?"

"Our clue." smirked Buffy and picked up something from the pile of scraps.

It was a disposable towel.

"He _was_ here, cleaned up but left behind the trash. And look." she picked up one crumpled paper from the basket. She held it against the window's glass pane to flatten its many wrinkles, uncovering strange words written in half of it. "This looks a lot like some of Willow's magic language. No way Other Faith wrote this."

"Good catch Buff. See, told you we'd find something soon. We just needed to stay positive and intrude on people's priv—"

"Wait, what's that?" suddenly interrupted Buffy as she squinted out the huge window.

Xander turned in time to see a shadow move from behind a window in the building across theirs. Before he could comment about it, Buffy was pushing her cargo into his hands and dashing out the door.

"Buffy wait! Remember the going alone danger!" The blonde was already gone so he ran to follow her, passing by Anya who was trying to take the sound system with her. "C'mon we gotta go!"

"But I can't move this by myself."

"Leave it!"

"Oh penis." she cursed before reluctantly abandoning her price and following him out.

As the two teenagers made it out the building, they managed to catch a glimpse of Buffy five blocks away giving chase to some white thing. She was fast. Barely achieving to keep up, they followed the chase all the way along the street to one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries where they finally caught up to the Slayer. The small blonde was standing between the graves, alone.

"Whu – What – happened?" panted a doubled-over Xander. "Did you – get him?"

Buffy stayed silent for a second before blinking out of her reverie.

"Get him? I-no. He escaped. I-I got distracted."

"With what?"

"Here. I think I've been here before." she whispered as she looked at all the graves surrounding her.

Xander blinked.

"Not to be Captain Obvious but this is a cemetery so yes, a very good spot to stake the undead. And us, hunters of the undead, usually make them dead here."

"…dead here..." Then Buffy's eyes widen in realization and she broke into another sudden run.

"Oh not again." groaned Anya.

To both the tired teenagers' fortune, this time they didn't have to chase for long. They found Buffy in but a moment, kneeling by an old grave, her hands removing weed off its beautifully carved stone slab.

"Buff, you gotta stop doing that." gasped Xander.

"I knew it. This is where she was on my dream."

"Who? What dream?"

"The one I had this morning. I didn't get to tell you guys but I had another one of those freaky prophetic dreams and Faith was in it. Now I know why. She must have wanted me to find this."

Buffy pointed towards the now clean grave where the name of its occupant could be read amongst carvings of star-shaped flowers.

**Edna May Wilkins**

**1881-1962**

Dear Wife

Though your end was not kind,

your memory I'll forever guard

In eternal life.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Shivering and sweating an ocean, Faith was no longer feeling like a privileged prisoner. Her muscles had stopped cramping after she ate, but then Wilkins did some bad juju on her broken leg and made it start pulsing and itching like crazy. It had been doing so for at least 20 minutes with no sign of slowing or stopping. And if that wasn't torture enough, her mind was still battling the stuff he revealed to her about Wesley's spell and her 'Alter ego', tormenting her with the possibility of such a horrible truth. As convincing as he made it sound, she kept rebelling against it because if so, then her cherished new friendship with the Scoobs, her and Buffy…. _everything_ was a lie.

"Careful! Careful. The screen is very delicate."

While she agonized in her chair, Richard Wilkins was directing some of his vampire lackeys to set up a big white paper screen, sending them away shortly after they finished the task. With the thing installed right in front of her, it was very clear to her what was to come.

_Oh goodie. Dinner and a movie. A crappy one by the looks of that dinosaur. _

And by dinosaur she meant the projector machine the affably evil politician was preparing for her Showtime. The thing looked ancient and big enough to crack a skull. She was hoping that since it was so old, it would go on the fritz and spare her from seeing any sick slideshow he'd planned. But as her lousy luck would have it, the thing was on and purring like it was just sent from the store. She managed to see in the paper screen the corner of a picture of something white before Wilkins took it away.

The Mayor patted the machine and sighted with a smile.

"Well kept as always. You know firecracker, this was about the only thing my Edna May liked of the 50's. By those years she was too sick to go outside but she always cherished looking at her garden, oh you'll like it too, it is still as beautiful as ever." he looked at the machine one more time before going to the tables. While rummaging around its contents he continued.

"Well as I was saying, I used to take pictures of all her flowers and played them for her in the library. Her most precious were the Gardenias. She took good care of them. Worked real hard to raise them all by herself."

He seemed to have found what he was looking for, which was two pairs of strange looking clamps with a thin chain tied to them. He took both ends of their chains and to the increase of Faith's anxiety, clipped them to the band holding her head back, all the while continuing his diatribe as if he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.

"Edna May and I, we never had children. But I know if she were here, she would have loved to call you daughter. She'd see what a wonderful person you are, a wonderful person you've _always_ were. She'd take you in no questions asked and love you like her own, and that Faith is the gospel truth."

His words cuddled and burned her at the same time. She couldn't ignore the fact that some part of her was actually feeling affection for this man. Some part of her found comfort and warmth in his voice and his endearing confession. But then she'd go back to her mental torture, thinking that these inexplicable feelings only helped validate his so called truth, and made her feel deep self loathing and despair.

"Now Faithy, this might feel uncomfortable for some time but I assure you it's necessary. You can't miss _any_ details."

The man grabbed one of the clamps…and to Faith's cold horror, he pointed it towards her face.

"What are you-What are you doing? What are you doing? Stop!"

Her chest tightened. Her head shook. She was trying hard to move as far away from the incoming threat as she could, but the firm restraints made her efforts look like nothing but shivers.

"Stay still. You could damage your eye." his caring tone a contrast to his actions as he took a solid grip of her chin.

"My eye? What the fuck, stop! No!"

But he didn't. Despite her struggles to move away, her body was tired and the bands held her too firmly. In nerveless hands, the ends of the clamp's mouth caught in between both eyelids and as the Mayor locked them in place, Faith felt an icy breeze blow against her wide open eye ball. The intrusion in her delicate tissue quickly began to hurt, her right eye tearing up fast. The lids of it strained desperately to close but the metal instrument was notched tightly between them.

"Please! This is crazy! I am conscious, I know who I am! I know and it's not her! It's not her please!"

No amount of pleading deterred him and in seconds the other eye ball was stretched open too.

"Relax and don't fret dear." he said while he turned around to stick several wicks into a pot filled with a hardened grey paste. "Before you know it'll be over and you'll be cured. Free of this unspeakable farce. You'll feel it."

Wilkins slipped on a surgical mask and then with a wave of his hands all the wicks caught on fire and the gray thing now looked like a depressing birthday cake. Fumes started rising from it and as they reached her, Goosebumps rose in her flesh and a creeping burn entered her opened eyes and then all other orifices in her face. Faith tried her best not to breathe in the intoxicating magic smoke but soon found herself feeling buzzed. Senses numbing and thoughts slowing to a crawl, the last coherent thing on her mind was the pondering of whether she was falling asleep or coming to.

Wilkins gazed at the entranced Slayer and pleased with the results, commenced the arrangements for the next step in the ritual. As he was preparing a dropper to administer the eye potion he heard a pair of feet coming down the stairs. The politician turned, annoyed and prepared to dismiss quickly whoever decided to interrupt. But instead of a vampire, he found a pale skinned demon. His particular appearance could only mean one thing.

"I'm guessing we have problems."

The demon nodded.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Buffy, Xander and Anya walked into 1630 Revello Drive, the Slayer barely able to keep herself from shaking in excitement. She rushed to the living room where everybody had convened and proceeded to dump the contents of her pilfered waste basket unto the coffee table much to the displeasure of Joyce. But to the woman's fortune, the trash consisted mostly of paper, candy wrappers and left over materials from some cut outs that she started picking up to clear out the clutter. After being told it came from Faith's apartment, both Giles and Willow quickly dove in, picking apart the trash for clues.

"This one seems to be part of a possible incantation, quite similar to one in Wesley's notes." mused Giles as he inspected the arcane writings Buffy had pegged as magical.

"I found an ingredient list." jumped in Willow with her own leaf of wrinkly paper. "The stuff here matches some of the sales from the magic store and—wait…that mix, of course! How didn't we notice sooner? I think I may know what Sleeper spell he's going for!"

The excited witch rapidly tapped her finger at two of the ingredients written by the Mayor side by side.

"Oh Bilberry, they say that's good for the stomach." commented Joyce, pausing in her sweeping of scraps.

"And Ginko Biloba." read Giles his eyes widening in comprehension. "Yes that could be it. I didn't see it before because the Bilberry was bought yesterday but the mix of those together –"

"— are always found in vision spells!" finished an excited Willow, her heart doing flips flops after finally finding something crucial. She looked over at Buffy and felt all her previous sadness and doubts evaporate when the blonde sent her a grateful smile.

"He's going for the eyes then. How long does that take?"

Giles took of his glasses and started wiping them while his mind worked over calculations that could provide an answer to his Slayer's worries.

"Well, it is said the Speculator Sleeper spell is the second hardest to program. I should guess it would take about, um…an hour and half more than the Auditor."

"You'd guess?"

"Buffy, I can't give you an accurate answer as there are many factors which may produce a longer or shorter time period. I'd say it would depend heavily on the complexity of what the Mayor chooses as the visual command. For example, if he were to uh program Faith to activate on the sight of just a color then three and a quarter of an hour would be enough."

"He can do that? How can we stop Faith from seeing a color? They're everywhere!"

"Help Murky Dismal make the world gray." joked Xander but was met with an unamused Buffy glare. "Or not."

"I assure you he won't program her with just one color for the same reason you just stated. Repeatedly receiving a command for long amounts of time could endanger Faith's health. It would be like um constantly turning on an electrical appliance."

"She could malfunction like the T.V. did at my mediocre apartment." summarized Anya from her resting place on the couch.

"Er yes, one could say. Which is why I think he will go for a more specific command. Something uncommon. And to program such an object depending on all its dimensions, you would need an average of four and a half hours."

"Okay, that should still leaves us with about an hour to find out where Mrs. Mayor lived and get Faith out of there."

Giles looked up at Buffy quizzically.

"Mrs..Mayor?" he asked, pushing for an explanation for this sudden conclusion of Faith's whereabouts. And after listening to Buffy recount her Slayer dream and her later cemetery epiphany the Watcher sighted tiredly.

"Buffy we can't jump into conclusions just yet. From what you've told us of the dream, Faith didn't actually reveal to you where to find her."

"Not literally but you know how unnecessarily vague these prophecy dreams are. _I_ didn't think anything of it when I dreamt it but now that I've been there I know it must be a huge nudge in the right direction. I mean I can feel it. This is it. Slayer instinct or whatever you wanna call it is pointing me that way."

"One of the properties did belong once to his wife's family." commented Oz. The werewolf then flipped through the addresses' print outs until he came upon the desired one and laid it in the last free spot on the coffee table for all to see.

Willow glanced at the map on the print out, oddly recognizing part of the topography.

"Hey that's the one near the old quarry. It hasn't been active since the 1930's"

"Wait, we have a quarry?" asked a puzzled Xander.

"With underground mines too." added Willow absently, seeming deep in thought.

"Why are we still a small town?" he asked himself in disbelief.

Buffy didn't waste time to voice what most of them were thinking.

"Dark unused tunnels, tell me that doesn't scream demon freeway."

"Yes but you may notice, most of the other properties have excellent access to the sewer system as well." Giles countered.

"The calcium order!" yelled Willow randomly attracting everyone else's attention as she ran out of the room.

There was a beat before Buffy and the rest made to follow the girl into the kitchen, Anya muttering grumpily that she was tired of chasing people around. The Scoobies found the girl by her computer, Buffy immediately walking to stand besides her.

"Looking at the map of the quarry house made me notice the lake by the quarry. You remember you told me to get inside the pharmacy's database? W-well I got in and didn't exactly find anything evil looking, just lots of orders for Revatio and iron tablets. B-but I remember one delivery order for a single bottle of calcium pills and I thought it was odd that, you know, someone paid shipping for only that little thing, so the address kinda got stuck in my head and here it is."

The jittery witch showed Buffy and the rest the highlighted shipping address in the computer screen and sure enough the pills were to be delivered to a small cabin by Lake Shunumish barely half a mile away from the quarry house.

"Now I don't know any spells with calcium, b-but it could be for him, right? He's old and everything so—."

"It's for Faith. Calcium kept her muscles from cramping." declared Buffy before looking towards Giles intensely.

The Watcher sighted. Certainly too many coincidences.

"I'll get my crossbow."

-x-x-x-x-x-

The last vestiges of the sun slowly lowered and hid themselves from view, plunging the countryside in darkness. As night insects prepared themselves for another night of chirping, the abrupt sound of a wooden door slamming open broke the silence before they could.

"Night at last!" exclaimed a brown-haired vampire as he marched out of a log cabin, growling and sniffing the fresh night air. "And not a moment too soon. Another hour inside and I would've bitten off my own arm."

"Get back inside you idiot! Our shift ain't over." called another voice from the depths of the small dwelling. The only visible feature of the voice's owner was his bright yellow eyes.

"Don't be such a tight ass. I'll be back in a minute. Just need to stretch my legs for a while."

"Yeah, well you'll stretch more than your legs if Dafoe comes up and finds you gone."

"Heh, Dafoe can go f—ukk."

The mouthy vampire's abrupt silence made his partner instantly suspicious. He took a careful step outside the opened threshold—and felt a bolt pierce his chest. In a second he was dust blowing on top of six intruding figures. The interlopers entered the cabin and gazed around the humble abode which housed one dusty rug, some rusty buckets and a dining table with only three chairs.

"Maybe we shouldn't have killed them off so fast." said Buffy after a second look around didn't uncover anything else.

"Tell that to Eagle eyes-Giles. You think age would make him less impulsive."

Giles sent a glare at the smiling Xander.

"We couldn't take the risk of having our presence known."

The Watcher slung his crossbow and took a flashlight from his pocket. Once on, the beam of light pierced the obscurity, illuminating the dusty wooden floor.

"Besides, we don't need them. Look."

The light was aimed at a part of the floor that was almost free of dust because of its many tracks of feet. The tracks led from the door to a corner of the cabin nearby the rusty buckets. Leaning down Buffy found a small metal handle which she pulled hastily, uncovering some stairs leading towards a darkened passageway.

"Demon freeway." she muttered.

"That's a nice way of describing the small and dark place we're all about to enter willingly. You know, I do not understand why you humans seek to shorten your already too short lives."

Yet Anya's comment didn't seem to deter the Slayer from jumping right in and disappearing from view. Giles and Oz prepared to follow.

"Nobody's stopping you from leaving." said Willow to the frazzled ex-demon, with an ounce of irritation in her voice.

"What, and go out into a Sunnydale night alone? Pff, I stand a better chance with you people. And besides I'm here to pa—" but the witch had already followed her boyfriend down. "Ohgrr, she didn't let me finish! Being human sucks. I get no respect."

"Welcome to my world Rodney. Now let's slip down the rabbit hole." said Xander while grabbing a hold of the girl's shoulders.

"Rabbit hole?"

The suddenly frighten Anya wasn't given a chance to back down because Xander had already pushed her down the tunnel, following her after closing the trap door.

Once down, the Scoobies found themselves on a humid cavern chamber. Turning on a flashlight of her own, Buffy assessed the surroundings in search for any threats while Giles made to silence the bickering Anya and Xander.

"Could you two possibly behave like grown adults for one second?"

"He started it!" stated an offended Anya.

"It was just an expression! I didn't mean to—"

"Guys, shut up!" interrupted Buffy capturing everyone's attention. "We need to be quiet from now on. The Mayor doesn't know we're coming this way and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible."

Once she made sure everyone was on the level with the mission, the Slayer turned her flashlight towards the only tunnel she found in the chamber. The beam of light could barely pierce 8 feet of continuing darkness. She didn't like it much. Anything could be hiding amongst the shadows.

"Alright everybody, weapons out." she ordered. "We gotta be ready for any vamps we might find on the way."

Willow and Anya both took out stakes, the latter of them looking at the weapon unsurely. Giles had his crossbow out while Oz and Xander were armed with swords.

"We only have three lights so we'll need to stay close to avoid any nasty surprises. I'll take point with Willow; Giles you go next with Oz and Anya; And Xander, cover our backs."

"Me? I mean, sure. Okay. I got your back Buff. Gonna have all my senses on." he babbled nervously while fumbling his flashlight on. It was a big responsibility unexpectedly placed on him and he hoped fervently he didn't screw it up.

They marched in silence down the narrow black passage, their steps slow and cautious seeing as there were plenty of opportunities of either tripping over some rail tracks or slipping in the limey patches of cave floor. The only sounds that could be heard were the small rocks being disturbed by their steps and, to Buffy's disgust, the tiny scrabbling of insects on the walls.

After several long and tension filled minutes of going straight Buffy saw the tunnel open up into another chamber. Entering this new chamber cautiously, she shone her light beam around to get a better assessment of it.

The new chamber was a lot bigger than the one they started on. From what she could see, it could have been one of the main rooms where the actual mining was done since there were pick axes and supply crates strewed around its corners. The rail tracks system they'd been following bisected the room before splitting up into three other trails.

"Great. A crossroad." she muttered.

Of the three choices she had, the two rightmost passages were the most promising since the one on the far left looked like it doubled back to the direction they came from. Still that left her with a decision to make and Buffy didn't think Giles would let her consult road experts Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Moe for choosing help. Also, since she could barely see where the other two tunnels led, she decided she'd just do as she always did. Wing it. Heck, Slayer instinct had guided her well all day so why not give it another shot.

_Middle tunnel it is._

The Slayer led the others across the chamber, keeping close to the tracks since she believed they were less likely to find any deadly sink holes that way. While nearing the middle tunnel, Buffy slowed her steps as she felt a prickle in the back of her neck. It felt like she was being watched.

At the back Xander was jittery, twisting his light anywhere sound came from. So far he'd only found cockroaches and a rat that gave him a small fright. But only because it had looked demony! And in the Hellmouth it was possible it was.

The darkness combined with lack of confrontation was getting to him. In the movies, this kind of scene was usually accompanied by eerie suspenseful music that always peaked whenever the heroes were about to get eaten. He didn't want to get eaten.

Following that thought a small shiny dot blinked at him from the deep shadows. In a jolt Xander quickly shined his light on the area.

There was nothing. Only the tracks that led to the left tunnel.

Releasing a shaky breath, he moved the light elsewhere…only to see the dot blink at him again! With his light back on the area he didn't see anything different from last time. That is until he squinted a bit and sighted a small white stick on the ground.

_Is that a cigarette?_

Taking a few steps forward to identify the object, he unexpectedly felt one of his feet crush something. Looking down he found the remains of some rodent's skeleton. And alongside the one his feet pulverized there were a lot more covering the floor up ahead; most were in small mountain piles of about two feet high…and on top of one there was a gooey human skull.

Xander's 'getting eaten' fear peaked.

"Um Buffy…"

Then, a drop of something slimy dribbled on his left ear and shoulder. Even when his mind was screaming at him what usually happened in this part of the movie he still couldn't stop himself. He looked up.

The Scoobies turned around at the sound of Xander's scream only to see something wrap around his neck and yank him up into the dark, his sword and torch clattering to the ground. Buffy and Giles rapidly shed some light on the ceiling, and the fearsome creature that took Xander angrily hissed back at them. It was a decrepitly thin androgynous demon with a disproportionately tiny head and no eyes. Its huge set of sharp teeth, the most notable feature, were making way to bite down on the dangling teen who was too busy struggling to stop the demon's long tongue from strangling him.

Giles acted fast. Giving his flashlight to Willow, he raised his crossbow and in mere seconds was aiming and firing. The bolt whizzed by Xander's cheek and pierced the demon's mouth. As it was screeching in pain, its slimy appendage relaxed and Xander fell fast, landing roughly amongst the mountains of bones. Anya quickly ran to help the groaning boy up, cringing when she saw some of the small bones were now sticking to him like porcupine quills.

Meanwhile Giles was already busy loading up another bolt and Buffy and Willow were trying to keep a visual on the demon as it wildly skittered around the cavern's walls. The demon moved fast, the two pursuing lights never quite catching up to it completely. Giles did his best to follow it with his crossbow trying to get a proper shot.

"What are you waiting for? Shoot it!" shouted Anya.

"Shooting accurately takes time and patience."

"You got Xander down quick enough." she retorted.

"Actually, my finger slipped."

"Your finger what?" squeaked Xander, pausing in his task of picking out bones off his skin.

Yet again Xander didn't get his question answered since at that moment the demon had slowed down, stopping some feet nearby for a moment, which was enough for Buffy's and Willow's lights to catch it. Giles readied his crossbow, and just when he was making the shot, the demon's tongue whipped out quick-like and a second later the Watcher was grasping at thin air. The demon snapped its jaws, easily crushing the stolen crossbow in its powerful mandibles.

"…We're screwed." stated Anya.

The demon screeched and the Scoobies screamed as it hurled itself in their direction, crab-walking towards them fast. As the creature made a lunge at Giles, Buffy intercepted it and soon they were wrestling on the muddy ground, Buffy doing her best to keep its large teeth from ripping her up.

"Guys, a little help?" she asked, her voice strained with the effort she was exerting. The creature had more strength behind its skeletal limbs than she thought.

The monster managed to pin down the struggling Buffy and to her horror, started doing its best to literally bite her head off. Giles rushed behind the creature, jumping on its back and grabbing it in a choke hold before it succeeded in beheading his Slayer.

The Watcher's interference distracted the monster enough for Buffy to disengage her pinned arms. Spotting her fallen light nearby, she grabbed it and then started bludgeoning the demon's head, the blows so powerful that they cracked the torch and knocked off a few of the creature's dangerous teeth. The demon roared with anger and pain. Rising to avoid any more blows, it reached towards its back to the still clinging Giles and with a yank, sent the man flying head first towards his Slayer, who fell hard under his sudden weight.

While Slayer and Watcher tried to recuperate from their rough collision, the monster swung its arm to guillotine Giles' head off, but then a sword came and chopped off the appendage.

The demon screeched loudly, mournfully clutching the bleeding stump that was once its right hand. It then turned furiously to face his attacker. The silent Oz didn't get the chance to raise his sword again before the monster delivered him a vicious back hand with its remaining limb, its long claws tearing deep into the werewolf's right shoulder.

"No!" cried a black-eyed Willow. The atmosphere around her crackled with magic and in the next moment a mining cart whizzed through the air and violently rammed the demon, blowing him away onto one of the chamber's walls. The impact was so hard it caused some stalactites to dislodge and rain on top of the screaming demon, burying him along with the cart.

Everybody stood silent for a moment. Buffy and Giles looked at the redhead with dumb astonishment. The witch's eyes blinked back to her normal green and she dropped to her knees. She felt unexpectedly tired. As if she'd run a marathon.

"…Wow." said Oz. Even if he were a more verbose person he still wouldn't be able to say much.

"Yeah…. Quite an upgrade from pencils." remarked a stunned Buffy

"I suddenly think I shouldn't put that curse on her." muttered Anya to herself.

"Don't really want to ruin anyone's party but I'd feel safer knowing if you, you know, checked that the thing was dead." interceded Xander as he nervously looked around the area the monster had disappeared. "I mean, call me crazy-paranoid but it's in the rules. Never ever assume a beastie is dead."

"What rules?" asked a confused Anya.

"You're right. Though I still think Will killed it good with her super mojo. I didn't know you could do that." said Buffy as she poked around the fallen rubble that hid the monster. Some rocks fell away to reveal the unmoving bloody face of the demon. Two pokes with her stake and no reaction whatsoever gave Buffy the security that it was dead. Yet still….prickles on her neck.

The Slayer turned around fast and launched her stake towards the darkness of the left-most tunnel. A pain filled roar was heard and all Scoobies turned their eyes and lights towards its crouching creator.

"You!" shouted Buffy, recognizing the now vamped nurse who had taken Faith.

"Gughh, you're good Slayer." grunted Dafoe as he yanked Buffy's stake out of his left shoulder. An inch to the right and he would've been dust. "Real good. But that still won't help you now."

"Where's Faith!"

"Oh don't worry." chuckled/wheezed the vamp, his right hand taking leverage on a nearby crate to help him rise from his crouched position. "I'm sending you all to the same place."

_What?_ was the thought on everybody's confused minds. It was then that Willow saw that the vampire was gripping something on its hand. At first she thought it was Buffy's stake but as the vamp made a gesture to throw it she got a better view of the long tube-like object. Her eyes widened.

"Buffy get down!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

The Mayor applied two more drops on Faith's reddened eyes to moisturize and focus the tired organs. The spell was almost done and he was immensely glad about it. Not only because he would be able to get his girl back, but also because nothing was going to be able to stop the event from coming true.

He'd partially heard the commotion coming from the mines, suspecting that it was that rowdy Buffy Summers with her friends, breaking into his house just like they did at Faith's apartment. Yet the disturbance never neared his position and he assumed that the group of white hats must have met the Crawler demon that lived in the tunnels. Confident that they wouldn't get past it while it attacked from the darkness he'd returned all his attention to the Sleeper spell.

Yet not a while later he was surprised as he felt a surge of magic. There was a fairly loud crash and then the far away sounds of battle dropped to a silence. Wilkins paused in his task as pebbles dropped from the ceiling and settled around his work area.

That had been powerful magic. Too powerful to have come from the Slayer's witch, right? No. It was impossible. Faith had said once she was barely lifting pencils. The level of magic he felt was almost on par with his and he was a very seasoned warlock. Why even then, the possibility of someone developing that much power so quickly….

Unfortunately Wilkins didn't get a chance to ponder over this unnerving denouement as the silence that had disturbed him earlier was broken by the boom of an earth shaking explosion that though not nearby, it still managed to trip his feet and make the cave ceiling above him creak unsteadily.

Now that wasn't good.

Seconds later another even greater explosion violently shook the tunnels and the Mayor noticed with unnatural fear that the ceiling was coming apart. The ceiling on top of his Faith.

"No!" he shouted in desperation as rocks prepared to bury the hypnotized girl. Yet before they reached her, a blue transparent bubble surrounded the Slayer, protecting her from the heavy missiles which instead started bouncing off and surrounding her like a round coffin.

The Mayor saw as a stalactite fell on top of the screen and his priced projector yet he couldn't afford to be distracted by these losses as he concentrated on keeping the magical shield around Faith intact. Boulders started hitting him as the ceiling slowly caved in and though he was immortal, he still felt physical damage. Soon the shield dissolved as his concentration faltered in front of the pain of his badly hurt human body which finally succumbed under the heavy weight of the falling rocks.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Joyce Summers had just finished washing the dishes when the kitchen's clock/radio beeped loudly, announcing the beginning of a new hour. She looked at the clock face for what seemed like the twentieth time and sighted. Her daughter had been gone for only an hour yet Joyce couldn't help but worry every minute she was away this night. Who knew what horrible things she and her friends would find down by the old Quarry House that even she as a new resident of Sunnydale, knew to stay away from.

She considered for a moment giving in to her urges and simply take out her trusty bottle of blueberry schnapps to calm her nerves, but then stopped herself at the last moment. No, it was better to distract herself with something else.

On her quest for a task that would occupy her troubled mind she wandered into the living room where her eyes fell on the mess left behind by the Scooby research session. They'd left in such a hurry that Giles didn't even pack his books. Knowing how much he valued them, she went about picking them up, along with all the scattered notes and print outs on the table. Upon coming up with the pile of scraps she had gathered from Buffy's stolen trash, she grabbed the waste basket that had brought them and set about sweeping them in, until some of the bits of scraps caught her attention.

She hadn't noticed before because of all the excitement, but amongst the trash, there were pieces of a picture that had been ripped apart. Rummaging around all the trash she started picking out all the glossy bits, slowly piecing together the photo until to her surprise, she began recognizing the three subjects in it. Once she reassembled the portrait, two familiar faces stared back at her with the third having been cut out in a neat square.

_How odd._ she frowned in thought and glanced into the waste basket as an uncanny feeling descended on her.

There were no more pieces left and what was missing looked to have been cut out _before_ the picture was ripped. And then a scary thought bloomed on Joyce's mind…a chill ran down her spine as it occurred to her whose trash this was and what else was found with it.

"Oh dear God."

She stood up in a bolt and as her mind started whirling with thoughts on how to contact the others to relay her findings, the door was knocked loudly like an answer to her thoughts.

She ran to it with hope.

"Buffy!"

"…No." answered a frowning Angel. "I was going to ask—."

"Nevermind! You can help."


	8. Betting on the river Pt 3

**A/N: **At last, the ass kicking finale I promised you like two chapters ago. Sorry for the super delay but to make up for it, here are 40 action packed pages of delicious climax. I hope there aren't many grammar horrors as right now I'm too exhausted to give it a proof read. Enjoy.

xx

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**Betting on the River Pt 3**

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-x-x-x-x-x-

_Her ears felt as if they were stuffed with cotton candy. A peculiar noise tried to puncture through the cloud yet she could barely register it in the background. _

_Buffy blinked her eyes to a world that swirled around her like some cheap carnival carousel. Before her, a desert ran for miles with bizarre heavy clouds covering its skies and pelting her with savage rain from every possible and impossible angle. She started shaking her head to clear off her deafened ears and as sound started coming back, she identified what the background noise had been. Someone was furiously screaming their throat out. _

_She turned around, moving strangely as if underwater, and spotted the only irregularity in the muddy desert landscape. A thick 30ft high pillar rose from afar. Glowing chains with links made of strange nonsense words, hugged its surface from the bottom to its very top. There, Buffy beheld the source of the screams, trapped like a condemned prisoner._

"_Faith." she whispered. _

_Moving to help her, she stumbled and fell on her hands. Confused Buffy checked what had tripped her and noticed that her feet had sunk entirely on the wet sand and no amount of pulling was working. _

"_Nah use f'r thad." The accented voice surprised Buffy from her struggles. She looked up quickly and her heart skipped a beat._

"_Kendra?"_

_Her late successor stood watching her calmly, until another of Faith's harsh screams pierced the air. The dead-Slayer looked towards the pillar, and watched the distant prisoner savagely strain in her confinement. _

_"…such rage." whispered the apparition._

"_I've got to help her." replied Buffy._

_The blonde tried to liberate herself yet again but only managed to sink down even further. _

"_Ya're wrong." said the dead Slayer still watching the raging Faith._

_Buffy frowned in confusion and was about to ask her what she meant by that when the sand around her started to give, swallowing her body little by little._

"_Choosa right." The apparition turned, her attention now focused on the sinking Buffy. Taking a painful hold of Buffy's shoulders, she pushed her down hard into the sinking sand and screamed._

"_CHOOSE RIGHT!" — _"Buffy!"

"HuhWha! Where?" Buffy jolted awake disoriented. Her eyesight focused and there was a drenched Willow looking down at her anxiously with her flashlight flickering on her face. The Slayer made to get up and as her limbs sloshed around she noticed that she was actually half submerged in cold water.

_What the hell?_

"Oh Buffy you scared me. I thought my last-second repelling spell caught you too. I'm so sorry, it was the only thing I could think of when I saw him throw that old dynamite but then it wasn't such a good idea 'cause he had more nearby and they went boom too and blew up the wall and now the lake is coming in from there and we're gonna drown in the dark—"

"Willow! Calm down!"

"Calm down? Buffy the whole mine is coming down on us! We can't even go back the way we came 'cause it's all blocked off! We're trapped!"

And sure enough when Willow showed her what was once their entry tunnel, Buffy saw that it was now barricaded with fallen rocks, and from the amount of water that was pouring in, it wouldn't be long before the chamber got filled up. She could see Anya and Giles' forms helping get the others to higher ground as they too came to their bearings. She couldn't tell much in the darkness but she hoped everybody was doing okay.

"Okay then, that's bad. But what about the other tunnels then? We had three choices, right? And one of them looked like it doubled back."

"When I repelled the dynamite back to the vampire, I blocked off the left tunnel. The other two are not completely out b-b-but we don't know where they go. They could be hours long, and the water is coming in very fast."

Willow looked back at the others worryingly. "Maybe…maybe we could move some of the rocks. Clear out a part of the passage before this whole thing floods."

Buffy frowned in thought. She took Willow's light and observed that the debris around the middle and right most tunnels of the crossroads was not as heavy as in the others. Hell, she could probably jump over the boulders in the middle one. The thought itself made her remember that she still had to find Faith and had been heading that way before all the commotion had started.

Buffy moved.

"Uh, Buffy what are you doing? I told you we don't know—"

"Willow I know! I mean I don't know where they go but I know that I have to find Faith fast. If we go back the way we came, we'll be back where we started and it'll probably be too late for Faith then. There must be another way out."

Buffy began marching with a purpose through the now knee deep water, slowly making her way towards the tunnels, a nervous Willow following right behind her.

"Oouh Giles isn't going to like this." whispered the redhead with a backward glance at the oblivious Scoobies, yet pressed on when Buffy didn't even pause in her journey.

As the Slayer made to climb over the debris, the vision of a raining desert flashed in her eyes and she stopped dead. Her eyes turned towards the other tunnel. While it had slightly more obstacles around it, Buffy knew she could get over them too.

_Choose right._

Her decision made, Buffy switched directions quickly and began climbing over the rocks on the other tunnel. Both she and Willow made it to the other side in a minute, their flashlight revealing that the rest of the tunnel though slightly flooded, was still traversable. Both girls sloshed their way around for a while until they cleared a sharp curve and the tunnel turned into a rising incline with some light flickering at the end of it. With renewed hope Buffy marched faster and soon they both entered into a small chamber half full of fallen debris. The fluctuating light was produced by a crackling old lamp swinging in a corner by its dislodged wiring.

There was nothing else on the chamber besides mountains of rocks and rusted mining tools. Buffy climbed over the rocks, looking for an exit passage that may have been hidden beyond them, but almost everything in the room had been buried by the fallen ceiling. Both girls stood looking dejected at the dead end, Willow looking sadly at her disillusioned friend.

"No, no, this can't be. This…she said right. I _chose_ right. She meant the one on the right, right?"

"What, who—" started to ask Willow but the sound of a muffled sound coming from a nearby rock mound stopped her cold.

Buffy looked at the source cautiously.

"Buffy." called Willow in a half whisper. "Look at the water."

The blonde looked where her friend was pointing and noticed that the water around that particular rock pile was tinted red. Another muffled sound emerged and this time, they were both able to distinguish it as a moan.

Buffy jumped fast towards it and started chucking off boulders left and right until she uncovered a dusty hand shackled to a chair. Buffy recognized the rings.

"Yes! Yes, Willow it's her! C'mon, help me get her out!"

With hard work the two girls started slowly uncovering the seated figure of their kidnapped Slayer, Buffy calling out to her repeatedly but not receiving any coherent answers besides pained whimpers. Bruises and superficial but bloody scrapes covered the young girl's dirtied body, yet when they'd uncovered her face Willow wasn't able to hold back a horrified gasp. Faith's eyelids were almost split in vertical halves, revealing red mistreated eyes that were crying blood all over her face. Buffy quickly ripped off one of her black top's sleeves, soaking it on the rising water and dabbing it carefully over the moaning girl's eyes.

"Oh god Faith. What did he do to you?" Buffy asked as she worked on cleaning the blood and dust out of Faith's eyes. The brunette blinked her eyes at her but didn't seem very lucid.

"Why isn't she answering me?"

"Her pupils are blown. It looks like she's in a trance, but.. look Buffy!" called Willow as she grasped one of the bloody instruments she'd noticed hanging off the band that trapped Faith's head. "These are speculums. They must have been on her when the rocks fell. But then that means…"

Buffy realized what the witch was getting at when she followed her worried gaze to the big piles of rocks that laid not far from where they were. If Faith's eyes were wearing them not long ago then that meant she had been in the middle of the spell. It would explain the trance as well.

It also meant they had to get out of there fast.

"We gotta move." she ordered tersely and started removing the rest of the rocks that covered the other Slayer's legs, frowning as she noticed the water lapping away at some crusty green paste that covered Faith's previously injured leg. Something else done by the Mayor for sure. Deciding to worry about that later, she and Willow made to work on breaking open her shackles, both girls finding them surprisingly strong even when Buffy hammered at them with stones.

"C'mon. C'mon. C'mon!" Buffy grunted with effort.

"Ugh, it's no use Buffy, these things must be enchanted. There's not even a keyhole on them."

_Great, more magic._

They didn't have time for this. The others had probably noticed their absence. The water was thigh high now and if they didn't get Faith out fast then finding her will have meant nothing.

Buffy looked around the small chamber in hopes of catching sight of something that could help her pry open the shackles. Her desperate skulking hands grasped a variety of things from a crushed table nearby, throwing aside useless objects like smelly bowls, magicky herbs, an old necklace and some strange earwax cake. Nothing!

Then suddenly there was a disturbance nearby and not two seconds later a hand burst out from between some rocks, followed closely by a very familiar head that instantly made Buffy's blood boil with fury.

She was on him before he could even get his legs out.

"I warned you." cried the Slayer, taking Mayor Wilkins by surprise with her fists. She landed many blows before the warlock regained his senses and with a wave of his arm sent the Slayer flying off into a wall.

"Buffy!"

"Nngh, I'm alright Will." grunted the Slayer while getting up. "You work on getting Faith out. I'll handle this."

"Buffy Summers, if you think I will stand by and let you steal my girl again then think again." snarled the Mayor before running to tackle the Slayer.

"You are the one who stole her!" she shouted angrily after dodging the attack and delivering a counter kick to his back which sent him crashing into some rubble. She pulled the man to his feet and wailed on his face with angry hits. "If you had any love for Faith you would have left her alone!"

Buffy finished her attacks with an anger fueled kick to the man's torso strong enough to have killed a mortal being. Unluckily for her, the sorcerer only suffered the pain of having his rib cage and lungs crushed for the minute it took his invulnerable body to regenerate. Coughing up a mouthful of blood and bile, Wilkins glared at his opponent from his doubled up position.

"You think you know love. Missy, it is my very love that moved me against your low and perfidious play. You and every one of your people have only done Faith wrong! _I_ am the only one that wants that child!"

"Liar!" Buffy screamed before rushing him and colliding with him in a frenzied struggle amongst the debris.

Willow watched the wrestling figures splash around in their rabid fight. She was worried. While Buffy was a better fighter, the Mayor could just keep going until the blonde tired. It also meant she was on a time limit for discovering how to unlock a lock that was probably made of pretty complicated spell work, well beyond the skills of a novice.

_No Willow! Don't think about that. Concentrate! Buffy is counting on you._

Willow steeled herself, donning her famous resolve face. She hesitated in thought before closing her fist around two of Faith's shackles and taking a deep breath. Praying to the goddess, she willed the power to come to her.

For a moment nothing happened, and Willow's old insecurities were beginning to emerge but then a surge of hot magic burst down her arms much like it did a while ago, and to her amazement the restrains split apart under her glowing hot fingers.

"It worked? It worked! Ha! Harry Potter, eat your heart out."

With a grin, the witch then made quick work of the rest of the restrains, feeling oddly proud that though exhausted, every bit of magic she performed came easier than the times before.

As her eyes settled on the delirious Slayer she couldn't help but think about all the times she had harbored envy towards the brunette. Her immediate closeness with Buffy, her easy going bond with Giles and not leaving out her tryst with Xander, certainly didn't endear Willow to the girl. Yet after last night, she was ashamed for ever thinking Faith was anything but a true Scooby.

The girl had saved her life without a thought, and here the fates were mercifully giving Willow a chance to repay her.

"I never got to thank you." Willow whispered, before reanimating herself. "Okay, mushy talk later. Let's get you out of that chair."

She wrapped her arms around Faith's waist and began heaving her off the seat, almost toppling backwards when the limp girl's weight fell on her.

"Uff! Y-you're a lot heavier than you look."

"Beee?" croaked a groggy Faith against the redhead's neck.

"Oh, you're awake! That's good! Now you can help me with the rescuing. It's Willow just so you know."

"Red?…What're yh..awake? I was'sleep?"

"For a little while. But don't worry, you're safe now."

"…my eyes. Cold 'n burn. I- I can't see." cried Faith in pain and Willow had to stop the girl's clumsy hands from touching and further damaging them. "He put something on 'em..and a spell. There wa'smoke and then I felt…I felt…I fell asleep…"

"But you're awake now." answered Willow while she guided the brunette over the rocks. "Buffy and I are getting you out of here."

"I was asleep." repeated Faith in a daze, dilated eyes trained on Willow's face before trailing off lost in thought.

"Yes, w-we've covered that. Now could you help me a little in your rescue? I'm no Slayer and you're not exactly feather light." Yet even as she said this, Faith's face contorted in pain, then her eyes rolled up and she went limp, almost pulling Willow down with her.

"Faith? Oh great."

Wilkins, having spotted the struggling Willow trying to drag the brunette out of the room, summoned up enough strength to disentangle himself from Buffy's hold and flipped the Slayer off his person.

"No! Not while I breathe." he snarled at the witch.

Willow's eyes widened in terror as a disheveled, pissed off and very powerful sorcerer drew out a fist crackling with raw magic.

Yet before any other move was made, Buffy ripped off the dangling lamp that illuminated the room and sent it crashing onto her enemy's back. The glass bulb shattered on impact, and in seconds, the freed electric current had sparked and then ignited Wilkins' clothes. A fierce fire spread all over him fast.

Buffy watched entranced as the screaming burning man desperately tried to extinguish the flames with the surrounding water, only causing them to grow. Maybe the fire wouldn't kill him, but it sure as hell had to keep him benched long enough while he healed.

Not wasting any more time, she joined Willow, and throwing one of Faith's arms around her neck, began running their way back to the others, cursing the now chest high and very cold water that slowed their escape. Halfway down the tunnel, the echoes of Wilkins' screams stopped. Buffy nervously threw back glances, just to make sure he wasn't chasing after them.

As they neared the entrance, the current began feeling stronger, threatening to push them back the way they came from. When they arrived at the hill of rocks that blocked the tunnel's entrance, Buffy had to drape Faith over her back and have Willow grab onto her so that she could pull them with her strength through the small waterfall that had formed from the incoming water. They stumbled into the deep pool that now filled the big chamber and Buffy struggled to keep herself afloat under Faith's added weight. Willow herself was having a hard time keeping their waning flashlight out of the water.

"Whu-where are the others?" asked the red head worriedly.

They didn't see the light Giles and the others were using before they left. The shadowed chamber was only filled with their panting breath and the sounds of running water.

"Giles?" called out Buffy with concern yet received no answer. "Giles! Xander!...Oz?...Where are they?"

"Maybe they dropped their light a-a-and they can't hear us." proposed Willow but her dubious and equally concerned tone betrayed her thoughts.

Buffy felt guilt come upon her, for having left them alone. Her mind went through a hundred bad possible scenarios that could have happened; from drowning while trapped, to actually having left them behind. She was thinking of diving under to look for them when a hand clamped onto Willow's arm and the girl screamed in fright. Buffy immediately went to attack mode.

"Stop!Stop!Stop! It's me!"

"Xander?" asked Willow with relief.

"Yeah. Dropped my flashlight in the water while I was climbing. I saw your light and came by to see if it was you guys. Boy, are you in for it with Giles."

"Where are the others?" asked Buffy.

"Well when G-man noticed you and Wills were missing he knew you had gone ahead all gung ho like you always do. So we all went looking for you the way you'd been heading before bald and ugly decided to snack on me. Wrong tunnel it seems, since we didn't find you. But we did find an exit which is good. So what'd you find?"

"What we came here for." answered Buffy and it was then that Xander noticed the shadow that had been hanging off the blonde's back.

"You found her." he stated breathlessly, then frowned. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know, but there's no time now. We've gotta get out of here." Buffy answered.

"Right. Let's go."

Xander guided them over the entrance of the middle tunnel where the current made them advance pretty fast down the passage, yet they all had to hold on to each other so they didn't get separated. It didn't take them long to arrive to the end of the shaft, where they sighted Giles anchored against a rusty ladder that led up to an opened access hatch. Buffy could see the Watcher's angry frown even in the near darkness. He extended a hand and caught a hold of his Slayer's arm before the current could take her and the others further. Yet as he prepared to berate her, he spotted the unexpected fourth integrant of their group.

"Faith. Where did you-..Nevermind. Hurry on up."

Buffy secured her hold on Faith and climbed first until she emerged in a small tool shed that had seen better days long ago. Oz and Anya were looking out a small window but turned around as soon as they heard her climbing out.

"You found Faith." stated Oz before he and Anya ran to help the blonde with the unconscious girl. "And Willow?"

"She's right behind me."

While Oz and Anya went to help the others, Buffy gently sat Faith against the nearest corner that wasn't cluttered with garden tools. She was worried Faith may had swallowed some water back there, but after a quick check she'd confirmed she was still breathing.

She took off the girl's soaked jacket and looked her over. Most of the visible contusions were already yellowing thanks to rapid Slayer healing. Her injured leg, which Buffy had previously seen covered with a strange paste, was now visibly naked under her ripped pant leg. And she could see that it looked a whole lot better than it had back at the hospital. But the majority of her opened wounds had a mix of dirt and blood in them that was a sure recipe for infection; specially her eye wounds which had bled again, with most of the blood crusting around the lashes.

"Buffy."

Buffy turned to face Giles and the others who had all gathered behind and were bearing combined looks of anxiousness and exhaustion.

"She's a little banged up but I think she'll be alright. I think I got to her on time before the Mayor completed the spell." she explained while she wiped away the dirty cuts with her makeshift handkerchief.

"Yes, well uh recklessness aside, it's good you've found her. But now we have the urgent matter of successfully escaping with her." flustered Giles while he squeezed out the excess water in his clothes.

"Where are we now?" Willow asked.

"Inside the property." answered Oz. "You can see the house from here."

"And the vampires too. Lots and lots of vampires." added Anya.

Buffy got up to look out the window and sure enough saw the dozens of shapes that prowled the expansive grounds of the Mayor's estate, like angry ants on a disturbed anthill. From the looks of it, the tool shed was located amongst the vast overgrown gardens on the back of the property. The records said that the house had been built on a high cliff by the Sunnydale quarry, which in their unlucky case meant they only had one escape route; the front gates.

"Well?" asked Xander nervously.

Buffy sighted.

"One thing's for sure, is no-man's land out there."

"Well you're the Slayer." added Anya. "Fight us a way out!"

"I go out there solo and I'll be chewed up in a minute. No." Buffy frowned in thought "We'll need a more subtle approach." Her eyes took in the landscape, in particular the many trees and decorative hedges scattered around parts of it. A plan started formulating in her mind.

Giles followed her gaze and caught on to her train of thought.

"They could provide good cover for half the way." he opined. "But the moon is bright tonight and they're probably expecting us there. It won't take much for them to spot us once we're near the gates."

"We need a distraction." concluded Willow.

"Xander's good for those." jumped in Anya with a smile.

"Don't you have a thing for me?"

"I have a thing for living as well."

"We're not using Xander as bait!" exclaimed a defensive Willow.

"Then how do you propose we get by unnoticed by a bunch of hungry vampires?"

While they bickered, Buffy's eyes, which had been looking around the shed for a proper distraction, landed on Faith's discarded jacket.

_I wonder… _she thought as an idea popped in her mind. Picking it up, her hands searched through the pockets and a smile blossomed in her face when she found the object she was looking for.

"They won't notice us." Buffy said smugly as she flipped a Zippo lighter. "They'll be too busy looking elsewhere."

-x-x-x-x-x-

It didn't take long for the prowling vampires to notice the smoking shed. With growls and vamped out faces, they ran towards it, eager to catch the Slayer. As they thundered pass a small decrepit gazebo, six heads poked out of its surrounding hedges.

"They bought it!" said Xander in surprise.

"C'mon guys. We better move before some of them get smart." advised Buffy as she readjusted Faith's weight on her back.

The Scoobies scurried their way across the mansion's driveway, their bodies filled with adrenaline as they caught their goal in sights. Buffy was to follow them as the rear guard. That is, until she was roughly tackled down to the ground.

The Scoobies all turned around at the sound of the skirmish.

"What now?" complained Anya.

Buffy snapped an elbow on her attacker's face and shoved its weight off. As she got a proper look, she quickly recognized it as the pale demon she had chased off by Faith's apartment.

The crouching monster hissed angrily at Buffy, but then a groan made them both turn their attention to a stirring Faith. With a fast lunge, the demon grabbed the brunette's body and was up and running towards the mansion. It had gotten only a few steps before an enraged Buffy fell onto it, and wrestled it away from Faith.

"Get her away!" she shouted to the approaching Scoobies as she grappled with the demon, which was doing its best to reach the other Slayer.

"But Buffy—"

"No!" she interrupted Giles. "Take her! Before the other vampires come back."

"And you?"

Buffy punched the demon's face, making it stumble a few steps back.

"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up with you."

Without further protest, Giles and Anya both took an arm and hoisted the brunette between them.

-.-.-.-

Faith awoke to the feeling of being jostled around. Her vision was blurry, but she could hear Buffy shouting and fighting against something. An instinct turned on inside her. She had to help her.

But she couldn't. She was being taken away. She struggled on the grip of her captors.

"Stay still, crazy girl. We're saving your ass." said one of her captors.

"I need to go back!" she replied.

"I know you wish to help her, but now is not the best time." said the other captor, her mind taking a second longer to process his voice as Giles'.

"Please, I got to show her! Prove am not bad!"

-.-.-.-

Buffy's spin kick to the chest sent the pale creature careening into the patch of flowers near the mansion. The demon floundered in the destroyed decoration, trying to get back on its feet.

Despite its' many attempts, the pale creature was getting increasingly frustrated, noticing it wasn't getting past her anytime soon. Buffy had been successfully herding it away from the fleeing Scoobies.

She approached its struggling form and delivered another kick to keep it down as her eyes searched for a weapon to finish the match. She scoped a decorative boulder bordering the driveway which she deftly maneuvered over the demon's head. But before she could crush its skull, the ground started trembling under her feet. Confused, she looked down and noticed as tiny cracks bloomed on some of the driveway's bricks.

Too late, her ears caught the sound of something rushing up.

-.-.-.-

The sound of an explosion halted the Scoobies in their escape. In the distance, a geyser of water rose 10 feet in the air where they'd previously left Buffy, spraying mist all over the area.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Xander in confusion.

"I can't see Buffy." said Willow, worry seizing her.

Their faces reflected hesitance, not knowing whether to continue to the now visible gates or go back. That is until they too started feeling the ground shake under them. The ground groaned and spots around them started breaking in stress cracks.

"This can't be good." said Oz.

Then the cracked spots blew up, dislodged rocks and mud flying everywhere as towers of water rushed up and out with great pressure. The group of white hats made their best to dodge aside from the explosions, but the mud and rocks acted as projectiles, pelting them hard and down. Soon the elevated water started falling down in a thick mist.

Anya groaned, many spots on her legs hurting in stinging pain. She could imagine her legs all mottled black and blue by this time tomorrow.

"This is what people get when they try to do good." she griped while gingerly sitting up.

Movements to her left made her glance as a figure nearby bumbled up.

It was the Slayer. The one they'd been in the process of rescuing…and was now running off into the mist!

"Hey. Hey you! Get back!"

"What is it?" asked Giles, having managed to get his bearings.

"Well the Slayer just ran off."

"What? Where?"

"I don't know. Somewhere over there." Anya said pointing wildly in the last direction she'd seen the brunette. "I can't tell with all this mist!"

"Bloody chit. Would it kill her to listen just once."

"Uh Giles?" came Xander's trembling voice. "I think our missing Slayer is the least of our problems now."

Deep growls from all around them answered. From inside the mist, many shadows with yellow eyes shinned, letting them know that the burning shed no longer had the vampires attentions.

-.-.-.-.-

Faith stumbled around disoriented in the thick mist, her ears straining to catch any sound that would alert her to Buffy's whereabouts. Her head pulsed strangely and images flashed in her mind, reminding her of what had been done to her this night. What had been revealed to her.

She hurt for the chance to explain herself to Buffy.

Like a spark, innate instincts alerted her to a presence, head turning fast. A few feet beside her was a cocoa-skinned girl with dark long curls and a face that aroused familiarity deep in Faith's mind. Yet despite that, Faith tensed, in preparation for a fight.

"Who are you?"

The girl smiled, remaining silent, before raising her hand and pointing outwards. Faith frowned, following the direction of her hand. If she squinted, the Slayer could make out something off in the distance. A glance back revealed the girl gone.

-.-.-.-.-

The group of white hats huddled close as vampires started emerging from the mist, their faces twisted and ready for their blood. Between the closed gates and the surrounding vampires, the humans were trapped. And what was worse, any weapons they'd brought for this kind of situation had been lost in the previous events of the night.

"Whose bright idea it was to leave off the pointy weapons?" asked Anya with an ounce of anger. Yet again was her new fragile life in danger of being exterminated.

"We couldn't well have swum with them." answered Giles. He had taken a defensive stance at the front of their tight huddle, doing his best to cover the teens with his body.

"Any hope of some of your surprise mumbo jumbo saving us Wills?"

"I've been casting the repelling spell for the past minute." replied a scared Willow. She gulped as the vampires kept approaching them predatory. "All I'm getting are sparks."

-.-.-.-.-

The exploding water had caught Buffy by surprise. She had been thrown away, landing roughly on her back. The boulder she'd been holding smacking against her stomach with enough force to steal her breath and bruise her ribcage. She laid there stunned, trying to catch her breath as small droplets of water rained on her.

From afar more explosions ranged off. With concern filling her, Buffy pushed up—and the demon she'd been battling fell heavily on top of her. It pinned her arms with its knees and wrapped its hands around her mouth and nose. Buffy struggled, eyes wide as the pale creature's tight hands suffocated her.

-.-.-.-.-

Things were not well. With Buffy still away and Faith having gone after her, the Scoobies were left to fend for themselves against almost two dozen vampires. Even if they'd been armed they would have barely made it out of this, if at all.

As they were, their deaths would be in mere seconds.

The vampires were almost on them and Giles prepped up his fists for the hopeless fight…when a bright light shined like daylight from behind them. The vampires hissed angrily as they were temporarily blinded and the group of scared humans heard the roar of a motor revving up. There was a loud crash and they all turned around in time to see a red convertible plow through the white metal gates, viciously run over three nearby vampires before screeching to stop. There was a second of shocked silence.

"Bloody hell." gasped the breathless driver.

"Who dares?" raged one of the vampires.

From the back of the car popped a man and a shapely brunette with a fireman's hose on her hands.

"We do." answered Angel.

With a snap, he ignited a flare while a smirking Cordelia cocked the hose. The vampires only had half a second of shock before liquid fire shot off towards them. Roars of pain resounded as almost three quarters of the vampires present were engulfed on fire, the heat causing the hanging mist to evaporate fast. The Scoobies watched stupefied as their would-be murderers scrambled around in pain before bursting into dust.

"Anybody called for some big damn heroes?" quipped Cordelia.

-.-.-.-.-

Buffy kicked up her knees against the pale demon's back relentlessly, but it seemed to be soldiering through the pain she was causing, his focus entirely on her eventual suffocation. As lack of oxygen dimmed her vision, the Slayer cursed her previous cockiness when fighting the demon.

She saw a shadow crouch behind the demon, hands wrapped around its neck and then there was loud snap. The demon's limp body fell on top of her, and as her rescuer tossed it aside, she got to see their face.

Buffy smiled as Faith's intense eyes stared back at her.

-.-.-.-.-

Seeing the quick demise of more than half their force, the remaining vampires were smart enough to break off and disperse. Angel threw away the flare and grabbed a sword and a crossbow from the repertoire in the back seat. He threw the crossbow to Giles, and with a nod in his direction began to decimate the fleeing vamps. The Watcher joined him with gusto.

Meanwhile Wesley stepped out of the car with a pink sports bag in his hands, his gaze running over the group before alighting in worry.

"Where's Buffy?" he asked with urgency.

"Uh she's farther up ahead. Stayed behind to cover our escape." answered Willow her gaze flickering to the bag for just a second. "We were taking Faith away but then there were this crazy geysers coming from everywhere—"

"Wait a moment, you found Faith?"

"Well Buffy found her—"

"Uh-oh" said Cordelia, suddenly grabbing a bat from the backseat.

"Has she seen her?" asked an even more desperate Wesley.

"What?" questioned Xander, lost.

"Has Faith seen Buffy?"

"Well no. She was knocked out from the spell." answered Willow.

Cordelia and Wesley both relaxed. The redhead frowned with emerging concern.

"What is this about? Why is it so bad if she'd seen her? Is not like—" and she had to cut herself off as sudden comprehension dawned on her. "You can't mean…"

Wesley looked on with a grim expression.

"Yes. Buffy's the command."

"….But Faith just went after her." whispered the witch in horror.

-.-.-.-.-

One moment she was looking at Faith and the next she was flying and crashing through the wooden doors of the mansion.

Pain exploded all over her as her body seized and complained against the particularly strong abuse. White spots blinked and danced around her vision. A figure calmly walked through the broken threshold, boots crunching as they stepped on the pieces of the door. Buffy groaned, her vision focusing enough to make out that the figure was Faith…and the girl was staring at her with a look the blonde thought she'd never see again.

"No" Buffy croaked in horrified understanding.

"Oh yeah." Faith's face twitched with intense rage. Her hands took a hold of a close-by coat hanger. "A _world_ of yeah."

Buffy had only a second of warning to roll away before the angry Slayer swung her weapon at her. The amount of force behind the swing caused the branches of the hanger to snap and the floor to splinter. Buffy scrambled up into a defensive posture.

"We can fix this." she cried. "Giles can fix this. He can find a way to bring you back."

If Buffy thought her words would pacify the brunette, she was wrong. A ballpark-way-off wrong.

"You self-righteous bitch!"

Faith snarled in an even more pronounced rage, swinging the hanger like a bat, and barely dodging the wild swings was all the blonde could do to keep herself from being mashed to a pulp.

"This isn't you, Faith! Right now you don't even know how you got here. What's going on." Buffy said with assertion, trying to reason with the other girl. "You're confused an—"

"Confused?" The brunette looked bewildered. In a quick motion, Faith snapped the coat hanger over her knee. "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!

And using the jagged edges of her new weapons, she pounced on the blonde Slayer with even more thirst, her attacks slowly pushing the girl up the stairs. Buffy ducked and dodged until one of the slashes managed to get through her defense. The short Slayer cried out as it shaved off a strip of skin from her right arm. That had been going for her throat before she deflected it!

Looking into the face of her fellow Slayer, Buffy could only see fervid hate shimmering in the blood-rimmed eyes. The blonde started to feel scared.

-.-.-.-.-

"How could you just let her run off?"

They'd never seen Pompous Proper Wesley looking so discomposed. His hands were shaking and he kept fidgeting with his glasses, as if they didn't fit right. Having filled in Angel and Giles, the group of white hats hurried up hill in the direction the Scoobies had parted with Buffy.

"W-we didn't mean too! It got all misty after the geysers a-and before we knew it she was gone!"

And Willow was surprised to find the Watcher grabbing onto her shoulders.

"Gone? You should have kept a closer eye! Dear god, there were five of you. You had more than enough to spare!"

"Calm down Wesley." said Cordelia while Oz stepped in between and pushed him off his girlfriend with an angry 'hey!'.

"She's a Slayer!" Surprisingly, it was Anya the one that defended the red head. "We wouldn't have been able to stop her for long anyway."

The clear fact exposed by the ex-demon cowed Wesley silent, Willow staring on baffled. Not only had Wesley been utterly improper and unusually frenzied, _Anya_ of all people had spoken for _her_.

Xander jumped in with a nervous smile trying to diffuse the tension.

"Let's all calm down and be positive! I mean, Buffy did say she'd found Faith before the Mayor finished his evil juju. Maybe the spell didn't work."

It was then that they came upon the lone demon's corpse, and looking on, the mansion, with its blasted threshold. Sounds of a serious fight could be heard from inside.

"Somehow I doubt it." Angel intoned, his steps quickening with concern.

Watching the vampire move ahead, Wesley swallowed at the confrontation about to be unleashed. Things had been slipping out of his control for a while, all the events leading up to this very moment. He feared gravely the judgment that was soon going to fall upon him.

The least he could do would be to help deliver some much awaited judgment himself.

"Cordelia" The Watcher held back the brunette.

"I know. I'll start things up." she said as she grabbed the bag from Wesley's hands.

-.-.-.-.-

Fighting a Slayer was nothing like fighting a vampire or a common demon. From the outset, Slayers were made to be stronger so that they could properly fight a battle that had always been tipped on the side of evil. Adding to that, feral and unforgiving Faith was a whole lot different than her Faith. The moves, lethal blows; The fighting style, more wild and out of control; The strength, like she was made of stone. It didn't compare at all with the harmless spars Buffy had with her fellow Slayer in the past weeks.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Too bad, Blondie 'cause I wanna hurt you lots!" And Buffy had to jump away from a sidekick that broke a hole in the steps.

With her current all defense attitude, the blonde was barely surviving the fight and if she kept it up, this Faith might actually kill her. Though all her instincts were telling her to take more offensive actions, her mind— no her _heart_ held her back. It was that first night with Angelus all over again.

Which was another reason why Buffy was losing so horribly.

For every deflected hit, two managed to rip and bruise her. As another attack got too close for comfort the small blonde caught an opening to even the odds. Twisting sideways to evade a low stab, she wrapped a leg around the attacking hand and with a quick elbow to the face, sent the brunette stumbling back.

Buffy paused. The hit had been more reflex than plan. Faith touched her bleeding lip and smiled.

"Kitty got claws after all."

The brunette then hurled her other weapon. Buffy ducked but then had to quickly slap a fist that had been hammering to her head. She then jumped away from a sweeping kick but got caught in the gut by the following donkey kick. The blonde Slayer didn't even get a second to hack her lost breath when another even stronger kick smashed into her chin.

Buffy moaned as her teeth in avertedly bit down on her tongue. She felt a strong hand wrap around her neck and suddenly her back was hitting the second floor's banister as she was unnaturally bent over it.

"Mmm, isn't this comfy?" Faith whispered, her body pressed flush against the blonde's, preventing her from bucking out of the painful position.

With her mouth filling up with blood, Buffy's hands grasped the other girl's, desperately trying to loosen the dark Slayer's iron grip and gain some breathing room. Faith leaned her face close and breathed in the short Slayer's blood sputtering gasps, thriving in the feeling brought on by the choked whimpers.

"Whassamatter B, all out of girl talk? Don't ya wanna tell me your secrets, braid my hair…cry on my lap?"

Buffy's eyes widened at the last part, eyes watering as with a smirk the girl made a mockery of a delicate memory. She was confused. She didn't understand how the Other knew about that.

Something was wrong.

Yet the blonde's silence seemed to have an adverse effect on the other Slayer. As her rage started coming back, Faith snarled viciously and bent Buffy further and further over the banister, watching as the blonde's face tightened by the strain placed on her body.

"He thought he could just muzzle me up so I'd be your bitch! Follow you around like an **idiot**, doing **everything** you asked! Did you know? Were all of you laughing at me? Answer me!"

Even if Buffy had an answer to the Slayer's strange outbursts she wouldn't have been able to give it to her as right now all she could concentrate on was the agony on her twisted spine and her subtle attempts at getting some leverage under her feet.

"Let her go!"

And there was Angel standing on the ruined foyer, the Scoobies joining him seconds later.

"Look who's here. Lover boy to the rescue! Always so dependable." She sneered before catching sight of his weapon. "And predictable. Drop the steel if you don't mind. You don't want me to choke Blondie this early in the game."

Angel frowned and reluctantly let his sword clatter to the floor.

"We can talk Faith".

"Talk? Yeah, let's talk. And don't think I don't see you Jeeves. Drop your toy." she warned Giles who hadn't been quick in hiding his crossbow.

"Good boy. So, now that we're all here together, let's be honest. Did you all really think you could leash me like some dog and get away with it?"

The group of white hats remained silent as they took in the return of the wild and angry Faith. Some of them felt particularly unnerved as they had forgotten how she'd been like.

"What you get off the deal, huh Fang? A stay-at-home play-honey for those lonely cold nights of imaginary Buffy boinking? You were awfully eager to get me to that mansion of yours."

The only visible evidence of the vampire's confusion was a twitch on his brow.

"And here's the super watcher!" she called as Wesley stumbled in. "Star of the show. So hungry to get his way he just couldn't take NO for a fucking answer!"

Wesley stood silent under the burning glare of the Slayer. Her rage twisted features so similar to those he saw that time. His mind couldn't help but flashback and partially take him to that night at the docks.

_The fear he felt and her unbridled anger as she shouted at him. Dangling by her grip._

"_I have a plan. With it, I can convince the Council to let you stay!"_

_Desperately trying to convince her. Trying to make her listen._

"What, no speech this time? Aren't you going to try and spout some flowery shit? Convince me this all came out of the **goodness** of your caring heart?"

"What is she talking about?" asked Xander confused. Meanwhile Giles had slowly turned an intense look to Wesley's paling face.

"_You've got..__**s**__o much anger in you. So much hate."_

"Uh uh, vampy!" Faith warned Angel, who had been steadily moving towards the stairs under the distractions. "You stay back or I'll snap her like a chopstick."

As Buffy grunted under added strain Angel stilled.

"C'mon Wesley. Tell 'em. Tell 'em what happened that night. How you fooled them. Fooled me! Talking about my shit life and being all sad. Playing the good helping soul…"

"_You can be a good Slayer, you wish to be."_

"You were trying so hard to hook me…"

"_Please…please just let me help you. Let me be your Watcher."_

_His desire to change her fueling his words. Thinking that he'd reach her. _

"But then…"

_But then…_

"…but then I said no…

"_Fuck you, Wesley."_

"…and you backstabbed me like the little shit you are."

"I don't understand." whispered Willow.

Giles frowned, a thought beginning to grow on his mind. "Wesley…what did you do?"

"Yeah, Wes. What **did** you do? See, I didn't get it until now. Until the Boss told her everything."

The pale Watcher nervously swallowed. "I-I...uh…"

"C'mon tell 'em. Tell 'em what you did. Tell the truth! TELL THEM!"

"_Fuck you Wesley."_

_At her answer, Wesley subtlety flicked his right wrist. The small bulge hiding under his jacket slipped on his hand. _

_Faith had retightened her grip to heave him overboard. He hesitated a second…and then plunged the small syringe on her neck. The Slayer looked at him surprised, stumbled back a step, and then dropped limply on the Watcher's arms._

Wesley breathed in.

"I wanted to save you….so I made the other one."

There was a thick silence as everybody absorbed Wesley's revelation. Xander and Willow looked from the Watcher to Faith with dawning horror.

"She's you. Everything. I didn't change much. Just… just no anger. Without it, I thought..I thought she could be free. Become that shining spirit deep within you."

Faith was breathing heavily, her body trembling with a fury that boiled beneath her skin. A tear of blood dripped down her cheek.

"You didn't want to save me. You just wanted a doll."

And in that moment the house inexplicably started to shake, the electric lights of the chandelier overhead flickering. Taking the brief distraction caused by this, Buffy kicked her knees against her captor, dislodging the grip of the other Slayer. Faith made to grab her again but the girl had thrown herself back over the banister. Then Angel was rushing her and she had to step back and defend herself.

Xander and Willow quickly ran to Buffy's crumpled form. The Slayer swatted aside their worried hands assuring them she was okay, but when she tried to get up, her head spun and she tumbled down again. Both Scoobies helped the Slayer lay down comfortably on the floor, Willow sending worried glances at the multiple swelling contusions all around the blonde's body.

Upstairs, Faith and Angel exchanged heavy blows, their fight becoming more violent than the previous one between Slayers. Dodging under one of the vampire's fist strike, the mad Slayer screamed a loud war cry as she charged her enemy, tackling them both through a wall and out of sight.

Meanwhile Giles had turned towards Wesley, taking him roughly by the shirt.

"And just when were you going to tell us about this? You've lied to us from the very beginning!"

"I didn't want to! I thought she'd come willingly! I was giving her a chance to start anew!"

"Like a puppet?"

"No! She's not a puppet! She's free! She can think for herself. She's her own person. It's like I told her, I just took away her anger."

"You still did it without her consent. No matter what intentions—"

"The Council was going to shoot her on sight! What did you want me to do?"

"Be a man! You could have told us what they planned to do! We could have thought of something! Anything!"

"I am not **you** Rupert!" said the Watcher with great anguish. It was enough to make Giles pause and permit Wesley to liberate himself.

The young Watcher breathed in shakily. "I'm not you. I follow the rules. I do what I'm told."

Giles slowly backed away from the man, feeling a bit of empathy for him as he unraveled and confessed. Wesley's trembling hands swiped off his glasses. Eyes shut tightly; he gripped the bridged of his nose.

"I waited for her. I waited for her to come by herself, but she never did.….I know I'm not a good Watcher, but I tried to do my best."

The only sounds heard now were from Angel and Faith's gradually distancing fight and Buffy's semi-conscious stirrings. Everyone else had gone oddly quiet in favor to witnessing the confrontation.

Which was why they were jolted when the house shook again. This time with enough strength to cause furniture to shift and decorations to drop around them.

"What is it with the freaky quakes?" questioned an annoyed Xander trying to keep his balance.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that the Slayer left an angry immortal warlock down there would have something to do with it." argued Anya sharply.

Over the group, the chandelier's light flickered as it swung and squeaked ominously, causing them to quiet. There was a loud snap, and the white hats jumped aside as the beautiful chandelier crashed in the middle of the foyer with a thunder. Yet they didn't get a second to catch their breath before the wooden floor suddenly caved in. Wesley, Anya, Oz and Giles having been closest to the crash site, fell into the new made hole.

Giles had been quick enough to hold on to the edge and managed to pull himself out. As he looked down below, he saw Oz clinging to a broken pipe and under him, the other two splashing about in a pool of dirty water.

"Oz!" called Willow as she peers down into the hole.

"I'm okay." the werewolf answered pulling himself over the pipe. He winced covertly as his injured shoulder sent him signs of displeasure for his activities. "We're going to need some rope though."

"Rope. Right, I'll go look for some."

"I'll help you." added Giles. They both ran to check on the closest door.

"Don't worry guys. I'm still here. I'll be your cheerleader." said Xander. "Hang tough, yeah!"

"Fat load of good he is." sputtered Anya as she swam alongside the Watcher.

Then she halted. Something had brushed against her ankle.

"Okay, something touched my leg."

"What? Where?" asked Wesley as he looked into the murky waters. He couldn't discern much.

He was going to leave it off as the girl's imagination acting up when he felt something grab one of his legs. With a startled yelp, both Wesley and Anya were suddenly swallowed by the waters.

"What the crap?" cried Xander in surprise.

Oz positioned himself to get a better look at the water.

"I can't see them." he said. "I'm going in."

And without a second's hesitation the blonde boy plunged into the unknown.

"Aw man, now you're making me look bad." He sent one apprehensive look at the dark waters and another at the unmoving Buffy. "Hope there's still some fish in me."

Xander took off his shirt and shoes and with a quick prayer, executed a perfect dive.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The first room they entered had been a bust. It was a sitting room with a small library and while the old books did appeal to both Willow and Giles' curiosity, they were in a hurry and one quick look made certain that rope was not to be found anywhere there.

The library/sitting room had a long hallway with a door half way in and another at the end. Testing the first door they entered into a lavishly decorated study room. It had cozy feeling to it, with many old looking cupboards, a leather couch, a room wide dark rug and a polished oak desk. While Giles went to rummage around the cupboards, Willow's attention was caught by the large portrait sitting above the desk.

It depicted a solemn-faced blacked haired woman in her early 30's. She wore a 1900's green period dress with elaborate black stitching, the dark colors of her apparel making contrast with the delicate necklace of a blooming gardenia clasped around her neck. As Willow's eyes read the plaque at the bottom, she was startled as a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Willow, are you alright?" queried Giles, looped around his hands he held some thick chains. "I've been calling you."

"I y-yes, sorry. I see you found something."

"Yes. Lucky us, Mr. Wilkins also took his dark and occult interests home." he said, showing Willow the opened cupboard filled with supernatural paraphernalia.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Underwater, Wesley and Anya kicked angrily in hopes of knocking loose the thing that was dragging them down. Yet the grip kept going strong. They then heard the muted sounds of two heavy objects splashing and in moments, felt arms wrapping around their torsos, pulling them in the other direction.

For a while it was a tug war between the two pulling forces, both unrelenting to surrender their catch. Seeing that if something didn't give soon he'd run out of breath, the Watcher pulled a pistol bow from inside his jacket and making a guess to the position of their assailant, fired blindly.

The bolt must have found its target as not a second later the grip on his leg loosened and his rescuer was able to pull him up. Both he and Oz surfaced with grateful gasps of air alongside Xander and Anya. The latter blonde was clinging to her rescuer, gazing at him with a dazed and astonished expression. Overhead, Giles and Willow looked down at them curiously, a length of chain having being draped over the hole.

While being helped out, a flustered Cordelia barged inside the mansion, stumbling to a halt upon seeing their grubby drenched state. Particularly, the shirtless Xander with the clinging girl quite enchanted with his gleaming chest.

"I'm gone for five minutes and it's a party." she remarked dryly.

"Not a fun one, I assure you." replied Giles.

"Cordelia, is it ready?"

"Trap is set." she answered Wesley. "All that's missing is the rat. You know, someone could have helped. I mean, I got dirt under my nails putting up those stupid thi—"

"Trap? What trap?" interrupted Giles, looking at his younger counterpart.

"Something that might take care of Wilkins once and for all."

"Oh goody. I was getting tired of looking over my shoulder at school. But we got a liiittle problem now.—"

"What do we do about Faith?" finished Oz.

"What, she turned evil after all?" asked the teen diva.

"The evil one was the real one." filled in Anya.

"Oh. Yikes."

There was an awkward silence as they all contemplated the obvious conclusion

"She's too dangerous to ignore." remarked Giles while staring at his silent counterpart.

"…Is it selfish of me to want the other one back?" asked Xander in a tone tinged with guilt.

"No." answered Buffy as she shakily stood up, attracting the attention of the group. The Slayer was staring straight at Wesley's with a strange look on her face. "No it's not selfish, because she's real. She laughed, she cried, she felt. I don't care what anyone says, she was my friend…and I want her back."

"Then that's what we'll do." said Willow with firm conviction behind her voice.

Just then, the far off sound of Angel roaring disrupted the conversation as Buffy quickly turned towards the direction it came from.

"Though you better make sure she doesn't stake Angel first."

Buffy was up the stairs fast but paused once at the top to look back at the redheaded witch.

"Bring her back, Will."

Willow nodded back at her, and then the Slayer was off into a hallway.

"You do know you just made an impossible promise." Wesley commented somberly. "Without the visual sleep command she's lost."

"Then it's a good thing I have a pretty good idea what it is."

"Do you really?" came a voice.

The group all turned in surprise as Mayor Wilkins hoisted himself out of the hole in the foyer. His ripped clothes were completely soaked in mud and blood.

"That's too bad. I mean, I'm **really** going to have to kill you now."

The Mayor formed a ball of magic on his hand much like the one back in the mines. Oz grabbed Willow and threw them both away from the menacing projectile which blew away a chunk off the wall.

"Now look what you made me do. That's going to be mighty expensive to renovate. And the rates in this town, uff."

Giles flashed a look at Angel's abandoned sword and with a quick lunged grabbed and plunged it through the immortal warlock. Said warlock looked calmly at the sword sticking out of his chest.

"That was in poor taste, Mr. Giles! In front of the children no less."

"I think we're better off running." gulped Xander.

Another hurled magic ball convinced the group of white hats it was better to dodge the crazy warlock somewhere with more running space. They all promptly scrambled out of the mansion.

"We need to lead him to the trap. Cordelia, where did you set it?" Wesley asked as they ran.

"Nice little garden out back. I left our bag of goodies there." she said, pulling the Watcher along with her.

The others ran with them towards the gardens, the dangerous Big Bad following not far behind.

-.-.-.-.-.-

A million thoughts ran around Buffy's head after the brutal revelations she'd heard. Yet she didn't have the luxury now to take a breath and organize them to figure out how she really felt about it. There was a huge crisis and she was the Slayer, thus she had to brave through and solve it.

Though her body craved some much needed rest, Buffy kept pushing herself towards the sounds of the rabid fight. The fighters had carved a path of destruction all throughout the house leading to the very back. By the state of some of the furniture she encountered, along with numerous blood smudges, the Slayer knew time was of the essence before this titan fight ended with casualties.

Pinpointing the room that currently housed the pair, Buffy walked to it with determination.

-.-.-.-.-.-

As they rounded the back of the house, Willow exploited the chance of being temporarily out of view from the warlock to pull Anya with her and drag her towards a backdoor.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Come with me. I need your help."

"No! If I'm with you he'll shoot at me more. I prefer the nice English man with the plan."

"The Mayor wants to kill Wesley too. Now c'mon! I need you for a spell."

"Ugh, fine! But this is a onetime thing!"

They quickly entered the mansion through a window door that opened into a rather large dining room. From there Willow spotted a door which led them to the hallway she and Giles had visited, making it easier to find the Study room.

Once in the desired room, Anya sighted the opened cupboard full of magical artifacts. Her eyes roamed over some of them with appreciation, particularly a perfectly preserved mummy hand.

"Quite a storage he's got. Some of these things can't be found in the market now-a-days."

The redhead grunted at her comment paying more attention to her task. She was using a nice regal chair as a stepping stool to get her hands on the portrait of the woman.

"Are we stealing from this house too? Wow, I didn't know being a good guy would be so profitable."

"We're not stealing. It's for the spell. Now, do you remember that temporal fold thing we did?"

-.-.-.-.-.-

Seeing them round the corner towards the back of his property, Wilkins threw yet another magic ball that unfortunately missed, flying inches off from one of the teenage boys. He stumbled slightly in his pursuit, his breathing denoting his exhaustion. Feeling something dripping on his upper lip the warlock wiped at it. Dark blood stained his fingers.

_That's going to be a bother._

Clearly his massive use of magic was affecting him. All the water and earth manipulation along with the particularly harrowing experience of drowning over and over again had taken a toll on him. He had gone beyond the limit a magical core would normally allow. The only reason he was standing at all was because of his current immortality which regenerated the damages caused by the overuse. Sadly his immortality didn't include magical regeneration on top of the biological.

Once he rounded the corner of the property he had to pause as there was no one in sight. He was a little angry with himself for not being quick enough. For a moment he thought they might have gone back into the house but then a disturbance somewhere in the gardens managed to catch his attention. They were hiding in the overgrown hedges.

He smiled as he headed there.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Trapped under Faith, Angel grunted with the strain of holding off the crazed Slayer who was trying her best to plunge a stake into his unbeating heart. His left shoulder throbbed with his efforts, the bleeding hole there a testament to how close he came to being done by Faith.

"C'mon Angel." gritted Faith "Isn't this what you wanted? All those night with your preaching. No redemption for people like us, right?"

"If you really remember everything then you know that nothing I said was a lie. Take a look at the person you could be if—"

"Fuck you! That wasn't me!"

The vampire took her brief distraction to kick out and catapult her off. He quickly scrambled over to her downed form and locked her in a nelson hold. The Slayer snarled, squirming roughly against his wound to force away his grip, but Angel held on.

"Listen to me! I know it wasn't you. But that doesn't mean that it couldn't be! Wesley was wrong in the way he brought this on, but he still gave you a chance to see that you can fix your life."

"That's. Just. It. I don't want to be fixed!" And with a shout she pushed off the floor, lifting them both and rushing them against a wall. Angel's body slammed in-between and Faith took the chance to lean back and dig her head against his shoulder wound. In his pain, Angel's hold weakened enough for her to rip herself out.

Faith quickly yanked off a nearby curtain and threw it over him. Dust flew in clouds as Angel struggled under the heavy fabric. The Slayer then grabbed his trapped form and with a heave, launched him head first against a wooden armoire. Angel's body crashed with enough strength to topple the armoire on top of him.

With his legs pinned between the floor and the heavy furniture, the souled vampire could only watch Faith stalk towards him. The brunette paused long enough to scoop a broken chair leg before standing over him, her face almost obscured with clumps of her tangled curls.

Faith smirked. "Guess you're the one getting fixed."

She pulled her arm back—but then turned her face in time for a fist to collide with it. Faith staggered back with the hit, dropping her makeshift stake.

"Can I cut in?" remarked Buffy.

Faith gave her a bloody grin. "Heh, girlfriend's back in the game. I like it. No more pretending."

Buffy remained silent as she prepared for the fight to come. Laying forgotten, Angel watched the two Slayers circle each other like big hunter cats, each watching out for the other's movements.

"Ready to cut loose now?" whispered Faith "Cause my body is aching for a good unnh! You know?"

"No, but don't get too comfortable. Faith needs that body back."

The brunette's face darkened in a blink. "You little bitch!"

And with a lunge Faith began the battle. This time, it wasn't as one sided as their last one. The Slayers exchanged fists and kicks in a fast paced manner, making it seem as if they had previously choreographed their moves. A Slayer symphony. Most of the attacks got dodged and blocked at the last second, both girls acting as if they could read each other's mind.

Buffy knew it wasn't going to be an easy fight. In strength, they were almost evenly matched. If they continued at that pace then the fight would go to the one that could stand the most, and after two nights of rough fighting, Buffy's body was certainly not at its best.

Faith sneered, having noticed the blonde's fatigue. "Not getting tired are you? 'Cause I'm just starting to feel it."

Faith then grappled the other girl's arms and sent them both crashing out the bedroom window. Landing in the small balcony, the Slayers shook off the broken glass and continued their fight with barely a pause. But now, in the shortened terrain, Buffy found she was having a hard time deflecting the strength behind Faith's hits, and slowly but surely the other Slayer was trying to corner her against the edge. She needed a breather.

Thinking fast, Buffy grabbed a nearby flower pot and launched it towards Faith. The other girl ducked instinctively and while she was preoccupied, Buffy flipped on top of the railing and then jumped high on to the tiled roof. Looking down, the panting Buffy smirked at the frowning Faith.

"What's the matter? Too scared to follow?"

"I'll show you scared." Faith gathered momentum. Then, in barely two seconds, she ran along the wall and easily slung her legs over the roof, popping to her feet in front of a stunned Buffy.

_Willow better hurry._

-x-x-x-x-x-

Giles and Xander were the last to arrive to the middle of the garden. Barging in to a clearing, they quickly took notice of the strange drawings on the ground which rounded around a mossy fountain covered in dead flowers. Besides it, Wesley was crouched over the pink sports bag, pulling out a moldy looking scroll and a weird red horn.

"Watch it." cried Cordelia, pushing them off the carved runes. "Those were hard to do."

Giles adjusted his glasses and then stilled as he recognized some of the symbols.

"You're opening a gate?" Fear tinged his voice.

"The circle of violence." answered Wesley. "Being immortal won't save him if he is trapped."

"Gate? Trapped? Wait a second, what is going on?" Xander said, worried.

"It's pretty simple, dufus." said Cordelia. "All the nice little drawings open up some super magical hell. Unkillable baddie steps in, he gets swallowed up. End of Big Bad."

"That's your plan. Opening some hellmouth. Don't we usually _close_ them?"

"He's got a point." opined Oz.

"It's not a hellmouth. It's a gate to a hell dimension. Its opening will be controlled by the sanctified tablets." said Wesley, pointing to the tablets surrounding the clearing, each carefully hidden by foliage.

"As the circle will only punish the guilty, we will not be in danger from it. Once it receives its prisoner then it will close by itself. The only problem is, I doubt the Mayor will stay still long enough for the gate to open."

Wesley then pulled a rolled up net from inside the bag. "Which is where you come in."

-x-x-x-x-x-

In the foyer of the house, the silence of the empty room was broken by the sound of muted splashes which ever slowly grew in volume. Then, from the crater, a dirty mangled hand emerged and desperately gripped the edge.

A beastly growl rumbled on the room.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Goodness gracious."

Wesley turned around as the Mayor waltzed into view. Wilkins smiled with pleasure having caught this particular person alone.

"Mr. Pryce, you I've been dying to speak with. You see, you've wronged my girl _very_ gravely."

"If I've wronged her it was with the best of intentions."

"Many a vile thing is made with the best of intentions."

"And you would know best, wouldn't you?"

"Oh I'm not denying ever committing such acts but I'm a heck of a lot more honest about it. You good guys, always justifying yourselves. Hiding behind a veil of hypocrisy and self righteousness. If you ask me, that's just about as bad."

"Then is a good thing your opinion won't matter for long." With a snap, Wesley unfurled a moldy looking scroll and quickly began to recite its contents.

"Oh poderoso e potente Minos, onorate a noi con sua presenza."

The Mayor paused, now looking warily as the wind picked up around them.

"What is this?" Finally, he caught sight of the runes now glowing in time with Wesley's chanting. His eyes widened as he began to understand.

-x-x-x-x-x-

With a great heaving grunt, Angel managed to shove the heavy armoire off his legs. He stumbled out to the balcony where he last seen the Slayers. Hearing their fighting cries, he was about to climb up the roof when he heard shouts from somewhere else.

Just barely visible in the gardens he made out the forms of the others. It looked like Wesley had found Wilkins. Angel looked from the roof to the gardens and back, indecision painting his face.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Eryishon, hear my prayer."

Willow and Anya sat on the floor, hands touching and eyes closed as they concentrated in the spell. In between them a piece of the portrait laid, the painted illustration of Edna Mae's necklace shone and then a pillar of energy burst from it, twirling around the room in eddies.

There was a low rumbling and the energy moved to concentrate on the girls' palms. Anya then poured a jar of sacred sand over the portrait piece, making the energy gather and agitate until with a flash it shot back and disappeared into the drawing.

Panting, both spell casters looked down where an old intricate necklace had magically grown out of the fabric.

Willow gave out a faint giggle.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The Mayor was in the process of backing out of the garden alcove, but then the hidden Oz and Xander jumped out from behind hedges on both sides, unfurling the big net and throwing it over Wilkins. Giles and Cordelia followed grabbing each edge and pulling to secure the flexible cage.

All four Scoobies struggled to hold down the now rabid warlock while a tremulous Wesley continued the spell.

"No, no! You will not best me!" screamed Wilkins, fighting to untangle himself. His captors fought to keep a grip as he used magic to augment his strength.

"You'd think his age would make this easier." wheezed Xander.

"Hurry up with the hell bringing, Wesley!" shouted Cordelia.

The young Watcher casted a quick anxious look to the struggling group in between his chanting. He was almost finished with the prayer to the Gatekeeper.

Wilkins realized this as well because he had stopped his frenzied attempts to escape. Having reached a new level of angry, he gathered what was left of his magical core and whipping his arms apart sent a concussion wave which sent the four Scoobies flying off onto the surrounding hedges. They each tumbled off with pained groans a few good feet away.

Wesley gave a small yelp as the enraged warlock tore off the net and lurched determinedly towards him. Black blood dripped copiously from his nose, accentuating his rage. He would reach him before the spell was done.

Then out of nowhere Angel pounced on Wilkins, wrapping his arms around the man and effectively immobilizing him.

"Finish it Wesley!"

The Watcher nodded.

"Minos, vieni e punisci al violento!"

And finishing the last verse, Wesley brought the red horn to his lips and blew. A deep trumpet resounded until the wind carried it away. There was a second of silence before the ground under them started rumbling.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Buffy winced yet again as another of Faith's fists walloped her on the face. It was the third hit she'd received in the last minute and her head was ringing with the aftershock. Also, by the way her cheeks were going numb the Slayer knew she must not look a pretty sight.

"There's just something about your face B. It just makes me want to smash the fuck out of it." The brunette said, eyes twitching with unusual agitation.

The brunette went for another hit but Buffy managed to catch her fist and then twist her arm. Raising her other fist to retaliate, both Faith and Buffy are interrupted by shaking of the ground. They floundered back a few steps to retain their balance.

Faith looked on as dark clouds gathered over a section of the gardens.

"Boss?" she whispered.

"SLAYER!"

Both girls turned in time. There, over the edge of the roof stood the vampire named William. Skin cracked and horribly burned, he looked as if he had taken an acid dirt bath. An undead monstrosity with eyes full of vengeance.

"Don't you ever die?" said Buffy.

"Dafoe?" questioned Faith, looking mildly annoyed at his appearance. But then her eyes caught on to what he was holding on his hand. A very particular jackal knife.

"That's mine!"

Dafoe grinned maniacally. "Then you're about to get it back."

With a roar the vampire rushed her. Faith dodged the first swing of the knife, and while Dafoe was still unbalanced, Buffy jumped in and flipped the vampire by his attacking arm. Before she could follow up, Faith snapped an elbow to the blonde's face, but then had to quickly jump aside from a sweeping kick from Dafoe.

The fight quickly evolved into a free-for-all.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The earth shook with anger and the ground beneath Wesley began to drain as if a black hole had opened up under it. The young Watcher quickly scrambled away when the fountain was sucked in. As the hole began to widen the Scoobies made it their business to get away as fast as possible.

Angel pushed off his prisoner onto the now 8 feet deep chasm and stepped back. The Mayor rolled down messily to the apex of the hole. There, he watched transfixed as a black tar-like liquid bubbled forth in front of him.

"No!" He spun around, running to the edge and trying to climb back. But every time he grabbed a hold, the earth would crumble under his hand and send him sliding down. Defeated, he turned, his back flushed with the wall and he stared at the thing that was growing out of the black substance.

At first it was an amorphous putrid blob with strange branches stretching out all over. But as seconds went by the center mass slowly took the shape of a giant bull skull. It rose up to nearly 15 feet high and cracked its enormous maw filled with jagged teeth. From within its mouth, a great thunderous voice spoke like a judge.

"_Omicida!" _

Then the thin branches gathered around the great beast started slithering towards Wilkins. He had a second to brace himself when the branches snapped forth like cobras—and buried themselves on the wall, missing him entirely.

The Mayor blinked and looked at his unharmed body. Then comprehension started dawning on him and to the Scoobies growing confusion, he started laughing with loudly with delight. The Scoobies frowned.

"Oh but this is…ha! Gosh! To think, they would take it so literal." Then he looked at Wesley's stunned face and grinned maliciously. "Beware the guilty of bloody violence, right? Well, I've never spilled blood with my _own_ hands…..But I know someone who has."

The black branches exploded from the ground under Angel and quickly started wrapping around his legs. He was yanked off his feet and would have fallen down the crater if it were not for Cordelia and Giles who had rapidly grabbed on to him. They both did their best to pull the vampire back, but the branches were slowly slithering up to swallow more and more of his body, making for a strenuous tugging battle.

When Oz and Xander joined in, Cordelia took the chance to start ripping off some of the crawling branches.

"What the hell?" To her surprise and disgust the branches screeched whenever they were broken, bleeding dark blood as if they were living limbs. In her distraction, she didn't notice when one of the branches overlapped the hand that was holding Angel's leg until it was too late.

Cordelia screamed calling the attention of the others. She was now frantically trying to scrap off the branches encircling her arm.

"Get them off! Get them off!"

Oz tried to help the cheerleader but as soon as he made contact with any part of her the branches would try to grab him as well.

Angel then started feeling a burning sensation. Smoke started rising from in between the thin black limbs touching the vampire, causing him to vamp out with the pain.

"I think Minos is not happy to be denied." opined Wilkins with a smile.

"Shut the gate Wesley!" shouted Giles, his feet digging on the ground to keep the group from sliding inside the crater.

"I..I can't!" said the distraught Watcher.

-x-x-x-x-x-

William growled in frustration as he was shoved off by the other Slayer before he could reach Faith. Then he sighted the leg, naked under the ripped pant leg and remembered her previous injury. The vampire waited for her to be occupied with the other Slayer, and then attacked with a low sidekick.

Faith screamed as her healing leg buckled under her. Losing her balance she tumbled back down the inclined roof but not before she snagged the vampire's shirt, taking him with her.

Buffy chased behind the rapidly rolling figures. She launched herself and caught Dafoe just as they slipped off the edge. But his and Faith's combined weight dragged her down, all three falling and then smacking on the ground.

Buffy laid stunned, her ribs reminding her they couldn't take any more abuse. Every breath was causing her pain. From besides her, Dafoe and Faith stirred. Getting up to resume their fight, they both sighted the knife lying in between at the same time.

They both lunged. A hand snatched the knife and then made a quick swipe.

The vampire stared at his enemy for a beat…before wrapping his hands around his throat. A fountain of blood gushed from between his fingers and seconds later he burst into dust.

Breathing heavily, Faith winced as she slowly got to her feet. Her leg was more than sore, and she cursed the traitorous vampire for taking such a cheap shot. Then, her ears yet again caught the nearby commotion. Remembering Wilkins, she sheathed her knife on her pants and started to limp off towards the gardens ahead.

"Wait!" called Buffy, struggling to stand up.

Faith looked back. "Man, you just don't give up."

Buffy, having bumbled up to a semi-stand, stared back with determination. "I can't. She..She promised…to stay…"

Faith's eyes narrowed and an inexplicable feeling started swallowing her up.

"Why?" She limped towards the blonde until she lifted her up roughly. "Why her? Why her and not me, huh? What, because I'm not slobbering at your feet like the rest of your little scoobs? Why?"

"….Because…she's happy."

Buffy then saw Willow appear on the balcony. The red-head beamed at her. Thinking quickly, the blonde head butted Faith and freed herself.

"Buffy, catch!"

Buffy snatched the thrown object and turned with a fist. But then she halted, suddenly feeling her breath stolen. A scream ranged from somewhere.

Buffy glanced down to see that Faith had buried the knife on her gut. The Slayer sagged and looked at the blank-faced brunette. Then her fist relaxed and from between her fingers hung the Gardenia necklace.

Faith's eyes dilated and then blinked. Buffy slipped to her knees and Faith watched, horror growing inside her as she barely recognized the swollen and bruised face.

Seeing her own bloody hands she started to feel nauseous. The clouds thundered overhead and she stumbled back shaking her head in denial.

"Buffy!"

Willow rushed towards the fallen blonde, Anya coming up behind her. As they both moved to help the small Slayer, Faith backed away from the scene.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Xander and Wesley had taken to using the net to pull and avoid touching the branches. Cordelia, Giles and Angel were already hanging over the edge, their bodies almost covered entirely in the writhing blackness. From inside, Angel's tortured roars could still be heard. Oz was still on firm ground but he'd too been caught by the branches.

The Mayor looked on with glee.

"You should have read the fine print, Watcher!" he shouted over the rushing wind. "Sloppy job on your part. It's always the details that get missed."

The ground under Oz's feet crumbled. Xander and Wesley were dragged to the edge, both furiously working to remain standing with the added dead-weight.

"You might as well give up." taunted the Big-Bad. "The keeper will not stop until he gets that tainted soul. You have doomed yourselves."

Dismayed, Wesley mentally acknowledged how badly the plan had gone. This would be his end. Most deserving after the things he'd done. He just felt guilty that the others would pay for his sin.

Suddenly, a shadow jumped inside the chasm and tackled Wilkins to the ground. Not having expected it, the Mayor couldn't prepare himself before arms wrapped around him and started dragging him backwards.

He glanced down and recognized the arms.

"No, child! You can't be here!"

"This is exactly where I need to be." answered Faith.

"_Omicida!"_ accused the great beast. Branches shot out and curled around the two bodies, pulling them towards the giant skull. The Mayor tried to haul them away, but Faith was making it hard for him to get back on his feet.

"What are you doing?" shouted Wesley, debating on maintaining his hold on the net or going to her.

"I'm getting my redemption!"

"No! Not this way! You can still do good!"

The strength of the pull dragging the others started to diminish as slowly the branches unwrapped themselves from their prey.

"No, I can't! It's okay Wes!" Dirty tears ran down her face. The black limbs had already covered most of her and Wilkins. "Just let me go! It's better this way."

She felt a gust of heat wash over her as the great beast behind her opened its mouth to the fullest. Wesley started getting desperate. When Oz got freed and back on the groud, the Watcher released his grip on the net and ran to the crater. He needed to get to her.

"Please Faith! Please!"

"Just let me go." she whispered.

Watching the giant mouth descend on her, Faith lowered her head and closed her eyes.

The mouth crashed down like a tidal wave.

"No! No!" screamed Wesley and was toppled back by the concussion force of the dark wave.

All was quiet when he finally got back to his knees. The remnants of the tar liquid were rapidly evaporating until the only thing that was left from the spell was the crater. The Scoobies, now freed, slowly got to their feet and looked at the crumpled man in the crater.

"….I tried to do my best."

-x-x-x-x-x-

She awoke to the continuous beeping of a heart monitor and the hustle and bustle of a busy hospital. Her abdomen pulsed with pain in time with the machine.

Turning her head she discovered the bedraggled and dirty forms of her friends huddled up and conversing quietly by the privacy curtain. Xander was the first one to notice her conscious state.

"Buffy, you're okay!" he said happily, going to her.

Willow soon joined in, taking the other side of the bed.

"Oh Buffy, I was so worried. There was so much blood and we were so far out."

"I'm alright Wills." She grimaced as her breathing accentuated the pain. "A little sore. But nothing Slayer healing won't fix. I'll be up before you know it."

Giles smiled tiredly. "That is good to know."

"So…where's Faith?"

* * *

End Season 3

**A/N:** Trust me, I'm feeling the future hate as I type up this message. I finally finished with this project! For me, it is relieving as I didn't want to leave it hanging. I began writing this fic just to write Faith's goodbye scene. Yes, all this time I was planning Faith's 'demise' but before you shoot me, if you pay attention you'll notice that it says End Season 3. What it mean is that I originally planned this fic as an introduction to an alternate Season 5,6 and 7. I had a huge Fuffy storyline planned out, which is why you don't see much fuffy action in The River. It was going to get heavier later on.

Now, the development of the other fics would depend on how good this one is received and the amount of inspiration I get to sit down and write them down. I'm hoping the muses are merciful.


End file.
